Join us as we explore the transformative power of faith, guided by the wisdom of Adrienne Rogers. From understanding the scriptural definition of faith to its practical application in daily life, this episode unravels the intricate layers of belief, trust, and action. Dive into tales of historical figures like Moses, and see how faith transcends the visible, tapping into an eternal reality. Learn how to cultivate your faith, separating it from sin and dedicating it to the Savior, drawing strength from Scripture and the Spirit.
SPEAKER 01 :
Adrienne Rogers was a motivator, an encourager, and a leader of the faith. He was also passionate about presenting scriptural application to everyday life circumstances, and you’ll hear that in today’s message. Now, let’s join Adrienne Rogers.
SPEAKER 02 :
Take God’s holy word and turn to that dynamic chapter on faith, Hebrews chapter 11. Now, I want to tell you something about faith. Tonight, I really want to talk to you about faith, how to live the Christian life. Now, the law says run, but it gives us no legs. Faith says fly, but it gives us wings. I want to talk to you about the wings of faith. The world, as we’ve seen, has broken the sin barrier. Science has broken the sound barrier. It’s time we broke the faith barrier. It’s time we learned to believe in God. The need of the hour is for an earth-shaking, mountain-moving, devil-defying faith in Almighty God. If there was ever a time that we need faith, it is this time and this moment. The early Christians were not first-call Christians. They were first called believers. Believers. That’s the way they designated themselves. That’s the way they were described. No one has a right to call himself a Christian who is not a believer. Amen. Jesus said in John chapter 6 and verse 29, This is the work of God that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. Our description and our duty is to believe. When God looks at you, God would measure you this way. Not according to your fame, not according to your friends, not according to your fortune, but Not according to your feeling, but according to your faith. Be it unto you. The measure of your faith is the measure of your success or the measure of your failure. Now, not only do we need, therefore, to possess a faith, we need a faith that will possess us. And I want us to find out what the Bible has to say about this kind of First of all, I want you to notice what I’m going to call the scriptural definition of faith. Let’s see what faith is. I read verses 1 and 2. Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, For by it, that is by faith, the elders, that is our spiritual forefathers and patriarchs, obtained a good report. Now, what is faith? A little boy in Sunday school was asked what faith is. He says, well, faith is believing what you know ain’t so. Hmm. No, that’s not what faith is. Really, it is just the opposite. Faith is believing what you know to be so. Now the word that is translated faith here may also be translated belief or trust. And the whole person is involved in this matter of faith, the will, the emotions, the mind. What happens is this, that God says something and there is a heartfelt agreement. Let me give you three A’s. Number one, agreement. God says something and you agree with it. In your heart, you say, that is true. There is a heartfelt agreement. Now that agreement leads to a second one of these qualities that make up true Bible faith because that alone is not faith. There must be with that agreement an attitude of trust. An attitude of trust. When you say, I know it to be so, then there comes out of your heart an attitude that comes on the heels of that agreement. but you’re not quite yet there to biblical faith. Attitude, and then my dear friend, action. Agreement, attitude, and action. Agreement, in my spirit I say amen, it is true. Attitude, I trust, I commit. And then action, I do something about it. Now you read this entire 11th chapter of the book of Hebrews and it is a roll call of the faithful and it tells what they did. It is the most action packed chapter in the Bible. By faith so-and-so did so-and-so. By faith so-and-so did so-and-so. By faith so-and-so did so-and-so. And by faith so-and-so did thus and such. Let me give you a definition of faith and show you the difference between faith and belief. Faith is belief with legs on it. It does something. First of all, that agreement. That agreement leads to an attitude of trust, and that attitude of trust leads to action, and then you have Bible faith. Now, Bible faith is not a leap in the dark. It’s not believing what you know ain’t so. It is just the opposite. It is a leap into the light by faith. Now, look at what God says about faith. First of all, He says that faith is the substance of things hoped for. Look at that word substance. Now, the Greek word substance and our English word substance are very much alike. Substance, sub, something beneath you. Stance, something that is firm, something you can stand on. When a person is trusting God, he has beneath his feet substance. He’s not walking around on eggshells and jello. He’s walking around on spiritual steel and spiritual concrete. That is substance, substance. Now look at it again. Faith is the substance of things hoped for. Now look at the word hope. It implies certainty. Now we use the word hope different in our modern vocabularies than the Bible writers and the translators of the King James Version of the Scripture use the word hope. In the Bible, the word hope means this. It means a divine certainty that is based on a divine promise. Hope means a certainty that is based on a word from God. Things hoped for are the things that God has promised. Now, let me read it to you this way. Faith is the reality of things expected. Things hoped for, things that are expected. And so… That’s what the Bible says that faith is. It is substance, first of all. Faith is the substance of things hoped for. Now here’s the second thing the Bible says faith is. Not only is faith substance, but faith is also evidence. Faith is the substance of things hoped for. Faith is the evidence of things not seen. Have you ever heard this expression, what you see is what you get? Have you ever heard this expression, seeing is believing? My dear friend, both of those are just the opposite of what the Bible definition of faith is. The Bible doesn’t say what you see is what you get. The Bible says just the opposite. What you don’t see is what you get, and believing is seeing. I’m not playing with words. Listen to it again. Faith is the evidence of things not seen. You see, there is an unseen world that is a very real world. Look, if you will, in verse 3. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God… So that things which are seen were not made out of things which do appear. Let me just rephrase that and say what you can see was made out of things that you can’t see. Now we know that’s true of the molecular structure of the universe. Our whole universe is made of invisible atoms, a molecular structure that really you cannot see. This is, by the way, is one of the greatest scientific statements in the Bible before the realm of atomic science ever came. The things that are seen are made out of the things that are not seen. So faith is the evidence of of the unseen. You see, there is an unseen world out there. The unseen world was here first. The Bible tells us in verse 3 that the seen world was made of the unseen world. And I want to say that the unseen world will be here last. You know, we as Christians are looked on as being ninnies for believing in what we can’t see. But my friend, I want to tell you that what cannot be seen is more real than what can be seen. What cannot be seen was here first and it’s going to be here last. 2 Corinthians 4, verse 18 says, The things which are seen are temporal, that means temporary, but the things that are not seen are eternal. Now what is more real? That which is temporary or that which is eternal? Just fast forward in chapter 11 and look, if you will, in verses 24 and 25. By faith… Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. And by faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.” Now, there what happens is this, that the way that Moses lived was that he saw that the pleasures and treasures of Egypt were not the ultimate reality. He endured as seeing him that is invisible. Now, what is the definition of faith? Faith, number one, my dear friend, is substance. What do I mean by that? Faith is your ability to make present substance out of future reality. May I say that again? Faith is your ability to make present substance out of future reality. Faith is the substance of things that you know will come to pass, that you know. And so faith reaches out into the future and brings the future into the present, and it takes the unseen and makes it real in your heart and in your life. You say, Brother Rogers, that’s a little confusing. Well, stay with me and I think it will smooth out here in just a moment. But God says as He gives us a Bible, scriptural, spiritual definition of faith, faith is first of all substance and then it is evidence. Now, it is evidence of things hoped for. That means, dear friend, that believing doesn’t make it so. You see, the world’s definition of faith is that if you believe strong enough, you can make it so. But that’s not the Bible definition of faith. It’s just the opposite of the Bible definition of faith. The world’s definition of faith is positive thought. It is positive thinking. If you believe hard enough, try hard enough, it’ll come to pass. And that’s the reason why some people just tell me when I don’t want to do a certain thing or don’t think I ought to do a certain thing or don’t think I can do a certain thing, they say, man, just have faith. Believe you can and you can. No, that’s not so. You can believe that you can fly out of that second story window, but you can’t do it. You can’t do it. And believing won’t enable you to do it. You jump out, you’re going to hit the ground unless God tells you to do it. Believing doesn’t make it so. You can’t believe until it is so. Faith is the evidence of things hoped for. Things hoped for means that they’re already there. God has promised them. And therefore, because God promised them, you can have faith for it. Now, I’m broadcasting right now. My voice is going out over the air. Now, how do those people know that I’m here? They know that I’m here because they’re hearing me and my voice is going out to them and they’re listening to me. And so they have reason to believe there is an Adrian Rogers. They have reason to believe that I am preaching because they hear these signals that are being sent to them. Now, when they hear that radio signal, does that bring the radio station into existence? No. The radio station has to be there before they can get those impulses. You see, the impulses that they’re getting, the voice that they’re hearing, the words that they’re hearing, and all of that is the evidence that the station is there. They didn’t bring the station into being. That’s only the evidence that the station is there. And dear friend, the faith that you have in your heart doesn’t bring something into being. The only reason that you can have faith is because it is already so. Amen. It is already so. God has said it so. God has made it so. God has given it to you. And therefore, because God has given it to you, then correspondingly you have faith in your heart. And that’s the difference between Bible faith and just positive thinking. Faith is the evidence of things hoped for. And things hoped for means the divine certainty based on the Word of God. Because faith comes by hearing and hearing by a Word of God. Faith is evidence. And then, my dear friend… Faith is substance. It is something that you can stand on, and you’re not a fool for believing in faith. Now, let me talk to you not only about the demands of faith, but let me talk to you about the dynamic of faith. Let me tell you what this kind of faith will do. First of all, this kind of faith will give you spiritual wisdom. Look, if you will, in verse 3. Through faith we understand. Do you see that? Through faith we understand. This is the first dynamic of faith. You have understanding. And what do you understand? You understand how everything got started to begin with. Look, through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. How are you going to explain the existence of this universe? Did you know in the Bible that the existence of God is never explained? The existence of God is never argued. God is just simply presented. You would expect to find somewhere in the Bible some writer who would write to try to prove the existence of God. You don’t find one, not one. The Bible writer just says believe. Just believe in God. Look again in verse 6. For without faith it is impossible to please Him. For he that cometh to God must believe that He is. How do I know there’s a God? How do I know that God is? I believe there is. Well, somebody says, that’s so weak. That’s so weak. Prove there’s a God. I always enjoy that when they tell me, can you prove God exists? I say, no. Well, that shakes them a little bit because they think because I’m a preacher, I’m supposed to be able to prove God exists. Can you prove God exists? I say, no. And I said, now I want to ask you a question. Can you prove he doesn’t exist? And if he has one modicum of honesty, he will have to say no because the finite can neither prove nor disprove the infinite. We can either prove God or we can either disprove God. And so the skeptic says, well, you folks just live by faith. You’re just believers. I say you live by faith also. You’re a believer also. I believe there is a God. You believe there is no God. Everybody is a believer. You see, I accept by faith God exists. He accepts by faith that God does not exist. Now, science can never prove or disprove God because God doesn’t live in the realm of scientific proof. To take this world apart looking for God would be like taking that piano apart looking for a song. You can neither prove nor disprove God… In the laboratory, because God lies outside that realm. You see, the scientists are always talking about how everything got started, creation. I always enjoy reading these articles about how the universe got started. You read those, about every six months or so, there’ll be another one. It’ll be another theory, you know, about how everything got started. It’s really ludicrous. But you see, they were not there at creation, so all they can do is offer a guess. I like God’s question to Job in Job chapter 38 and verse 4. God said to Job, Job, where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Where were you, Job, when I laid the foundations of the earth? Job had to say, I wasn’t there, God. And you weren’t there. And no scientist was there. And he will never prove or disprove anything. And he cannot demonstrate there is no God any more than I can demonstrate there is a God. And so unbelief in God is not really a matter of the mind. Lack of belief in God is a matter of the heart. That’s the reason the Bible never presents a proof for God. It just presents God. And then this is how much the Bible gives to atheism. The Bible gives one half of one verse. Psalm 53 verse 1 and Psalm 14 verse 1. The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. And the word fool there is the word Nabal, N-A-B-A-L. And it doesn’t mean a person who is mentally deficient. It means a person who is morally deficient. You see, why does God call him a fool? Well, because God is the supreme fact. And if God is the supreme fact, the man who doesn’t believe in the supreme fact is the supreme fool. The fool has said in his heart, there is no God. You say, but you accept… that there is a God by faith. Yes, I do, and I’ll tell you why in a moment. But I accept by faith that God exists. The Bible says by faith we understand. By faith we understand that the world was created, that the world was made out of things which do not appear. We accept that by faith. Now, that doesn’t mean there’s not any evidence on our side. If you have creation, you must have a creator. That’s evidence, but not proof. You see, our faith is rooted in evidence. Our faith goes beyond evidence, and then our faith becomes its own best evidence. I believe because I believe. Now, what I’m saying is that faith is necessary to spiritual wisdom by faith we understand. Secondly, faith is necessary to spiritual worship. Look in verse 6, not only do we understand God, but we please God by faith. But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he that cometh to God must believe that He is. Now, if God wanted to prove Himself to you, He could. Somebody says, if God’s so big, God’s so great, why doesn’t He prove Himself? Well, He could if He wanted to. He’d just reach down and take the roof off this auditorium and say, boo. You’d say, I believe. I mean… He’d have no difficulty at all proving Himself to you, but He doesn’t want to do that. Because if God proved Himself to you, that would destroy the faith principle. And the faith principle is what is necessary to please God. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. You can thank God that He does not prove Himself to you. Thank God that He allows you to do it by faith. What is faith? Faith is not believing after you’ve seen all of the facts. Faith is a moral response to the character of God. Amen. I want you to understand that. Faith is a moral response to the character of God. When Jesus Christ came into this world, Jesus laid aside that external glory that was His. Jesus laid aside all of the might, the majesty, the the inherent glory and splendor that was His. We saw just a flicker of it at the transfiguration, at least we read about it. But essentially, Jesus laid all of that aside, and the Bible says He made of Himself of no reputation. He took upon Him the form of human flesh. And when Jesus Christ came into this world, Jesus Christ did not come into this world in a chariot of fire and a blaze of glory, escorted by an entourage from heaven. No, He came into this world through the portals of a virgin’s womb, born in a smelly, stinky stable with cow dung on the floor, laid on straw, wrapped in swaddling clothes, raised in a carpenter’s shop. And Isaiah said, when we see Him, there’s no form, nor comeliness, nor beauty that we should desire Him. Why? I’ll tell you why. Because though He laid aside all of that splendor and all of that glory, He did not lay aside His essential nature, essence of deity. that inward beauty that was there, that was still there. Now, the right heart will respond to the character of God. When that heart is right, like my eye responds to light when my eye is right, and like my ear responds to sound when my ear is right, your heart will respond to God when your heart is right. And that heart response to God is what the Bible calls faith. And that’s what pleases God. That’s the way you worship God. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. If you really, really, really want to please God, believe God. People do all kinds of things to try to please God. They disfigure their bodies. They go on pilgrimages. They fast. They give amounts of money. They do this and that. But the way to please God is to believe God. Now listen, faith is necessary to spiritual wisdom. By faith, we understand. Faith is necessary to spiritual worship. He that cometh to God must believe that he is. Thirdly, faith is necessary to spiritual wealth. Faith is the medium of exchange in the kingdom of God. What you need from God, you’re going to get by believing God. Look again in verse 6. But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, that’s spiritual worship, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. That is spiritual wealth. You see, dear friend, as I say again, that faith is the medium of exchange in the kingdom of God. What is it that you need? You need to be saved. How is a person saved? Let me give you three verses. One from the Old Testament and three from the New Testament. Let me give you four verses. First of all, you want to jot these down. It’s very interesting. First of all, don’t turn to them, just jot them down. First one you wouldn’t find until I’m finished preaching. Habakkuk 2 verse 4. All right, now listen to it. Habakkuk chapter 2 verse 4. Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him, but the just shall live by his faith. Habakkuk says the just shall live by faith. Then Romans chapter 1 verse 17. Listen to this. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith as it is written… The just shall live by faith. The next is Galatians chapter 3 verse 11. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident. For the just shall live by faith. And then Hebrews chapter 10 verse 38. Now the just shall live by faith. Do you get any idea that God’s trying to tell us something? The just shall live by faith. The just shall live by faith. The just shall live by faith. The just shall live by faith. Friend, do you want to be saved? There’s only one way to be saved. This is the spiritual wealth that you get by faith, first of all, is salvation. As a matter of fact, that’s why we had what is called the Protestant Reformation led by Martin Luther in 1517. Martin Luther was a Roman Catholic monk who had tried his best he could to save his own life by living good and by obeying the rules and the commandments of the scriptures and the church and the tradition of his church. And he was trying and struggling and had no assurance of his salvation, whatever. A man who wanted God, but he’d been studying the book of Romans. And he read that verse from the book of Romans that I just read to you, that just shall live by faith. One day, Martin Luther was on his knees. He was doing penance. He was on the Santa Scala, the holy stairs in Rome, thought to be the stairs by which Jesus ascended to Pilate’s judgment hall. One step at a time, he would be there. And he’s praying, trying to get right with God, begging God to accept him, begging God to receive him. And like a thunderbolt, God spoke to him and said, Martin, the just shall live by faith. And he saw it. It exploded in his soul. What you as a Baptist just take for granted, for by grace are you saved through faith. And that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. And God gave him wings. He began to soar. Oh, my dear friend, what I’m trying to tell you, faith is the key to spiritual wisdom. It is the key to spiritual worship. It is the key to spiritual wealth. You want salvation, you’re going to be saved. You’re going to be saved by trusting the Lord. But not only salvation, but sanctification. The Bible says… 1 John chapter 5 and verse 4, this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Now, there are a lot of you who say, you know, Pastor, I’m saved, but I’m just struggling in my Christian life. I’ve got worldliness. I’ve got problems. I’ve got temptations. How am I going to overcome? This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Trying to live the Christian life is like struggling to get out of quicksand. The more you struggle, the deeper you sink. Do you come to the place where you say, I can’t, He never said I could, He can, He always said He would, and I’m going to trust Him. That’s more than a play on words. My dear friend, this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our fate. And if you are bound by some problem, some habit, quit trying and start trusting. Believe God for the victory. This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our fate. Now, not only are you going to receive salvation and sanctification, it’s also true in soul winning. You want to be a soul winner? How are you going to be a soul winner? by believing God. In the ninth chapter of the Gospel of Mark, there’s the story of a demon-possessed boy. The boy’s father brought the boy to Jesus’ disciples, and Jesus’ disciples were not able to deliver that boy from the grip of a personal devil. And then the man came to Jesus, and this man said to Jesus, Master, If you can do something for my son, please do it. And I want to give you the answer that Jesus gave him. And I want you to listen to it because it applies to those of us who have children who are wayward. And children many times who are wayward because they’re in the grip of the devil. Maybe they began with drugs or whatever. And a demonic influence moved into them. And you as parents say, oh Jesus, if you can do anything for my son, please do it. And here’s what Jesus said to that father. If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. Straightway the father of the child cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief. And Jesus, when he saw the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit saying unto him, thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him and enter no more into him. The key to that thing is Jesus did not say if that boy could believe. Jesus said to the father, if you can believe. Can we believe God for our children? Not only can we, but must we? Can we believe God for our husbands and our wives and those who need us? Yes, if thou canst believe. My dear friend, I’m telling you that spiritual wealth comes by faith. Salvation comes by faith. Sanctification comes by faith. Soul winning comes by faith. Supplication, our prayers being answered, come by faith. Matthew chapter 21 and verse 22. Jesus said, “…and all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing.” ye shall receive. Pray, believe, you will receive. Pray in doubt, you do without. God does not answer unbelieving prayer. Friend, what am I saying? The definition of faith is substance. The definition of faith is evidence. And then I have given you the dynamic of faith. Faith is necessary to spiritual wisdom. By faith we understand. Faith is necessary to spiritual worship. By faith we please God. Faith is necessary to spiritual wealth. By faith God gives to us. God gives to us His wealth. Listen. By faith man gives God pleasure. And by faith, through faith, God gives man treasure. Amen. God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. Now, there’s one other thing I want to talk about, and not only the description and the dynamic, but I want to talk to you about the development of this kind of faith. How are you going to have this kind of faith? How does it come? Well, let me say, dear friend, that it does come. It cannot be manufactured. It cannot be worked up. Faith, Bible faith, must be imparted. And I’m going to show you that in a moment from our scripture right in front of us. But let me give you these verses before we get there to show you that faith is a gift of God that it must be imparted. For example, go back to the matter of salvation. The Bible says in Ephesians 2 verse 8, For by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. What is the gift of God? Faith. Faith to believe God. It doesn’t simply mean that the salvation is the gift of God. The faith that enables you to believe God is also the gift of God. Yes, Jesus died on the cross to purchase that salvation. But where did that faith come from? Do you think it came out of your poor, wicked, depraved old heart? No, sir. God enabled you to believe on Him. Let me give you another verse that might make that even more clear. 2 Peter 1, verse 1. Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ to them that have obtained like precious faith. You obtain it. You don’t manufacture it. It has to be given to you. Let me give you another verse. Philippians 1, verse 29, For unto you it is given in behalf of Christ not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake. It was given to you to believe on Jesus Christ. Now, how does God impart this faith? All right, the three principles here. Hebrews chapter 11 begins with the subject of faith. Then it illustrates faith by all of these heroes of the faith. And then we begin in chapter 12. So just fast forward to chapter 12. And you see the word wherefore. Now when you see the word wherefore or the word therefore, you understand what the wherefore is there for. So look at it. It just simply refers backward to all that has been said about faith, okay? So he’s still on the same subject. The only reason you have the chapter divisions, they’re just there to keep preachers from preaching too long, that’s all. It’s all just part of the same story right now. So he’s just, he’s given you all of these illustrations, and then he says, wherefore. That is, he’s going to get practical right now, okay? He’s going to show you now, He’s given you a definition of faith. He’s shown you the dynamics of faith. And now He’s going to show you how to develop faith. Now look at it. “‘Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.'” who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. All right, may I be bold enough to tell you three simple things that Scripture tells us in my estimation about the development of faith. Number one, there is what I want to call the Scripture principle. You must be saturated with Scripture. Now, the wherefore just simply refers to what God has said. That’s it. God gave scripture to build faith in you. Romans 10 verse 17, you know. So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. You must have a word from God. Now let’s go back to our definition of faith. Faith is what? The evidence of things what? Hoped for. What did I say hoped meant? It means a certainty based on a divine promise. Certainty based on divine promise. And where does that divine promise come from? A word from God. Faith, my dear friend, is evidence that is based on certainty. And it is the evidence of the certainty, and that’s what the faith is in your heart. And you got the certainty out of the Word of God. God says, wherefore, because of this, believe me, trust me. Now let me tell you about the Bible. The Bible is not first and foremost a book to be explained. It does need explanation. But it is first and foremost a book to be believed. Amen. Leonard Ravenhill said, one of these days, somebody’s going to pick up this book, read it, and believe it, and the rest of us are going to be ashamed of ourselves. It is a book to be believed. Now, the Bible says that faith comes from a word from God, a rhema, R-H-E-M-A, rhema, a word from God. Not the word of God, but a word from God. When you read the Bible, God… is going to take the Word of God and take a word out of the Word, and God’s going to put that Word in your heart. He’s going to be meeting the need of your heart. Dwight L. Moody said, I used to pray for faith, I used to pray for faith, I used to pray for faith, and my faith was very weak. And then one day, I read where faith comes by hearing, and hearing from the Word of God, he said, I stopped praying for faith, and I started studying the Word of God, and he said, faith began to grow in my heart and in my life. Faith comes from the Word of God, literally a word from God. Now, you must be, first of all, saturated with the Scripture, but then secondly… You must be separated from sin. Saturated with Scripture, separated from sin. Look at it. Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us. And let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Now, dear friend, you must lay aside that weight. And that’s sin. Every weight, that’s the things that weigh us down. And the sin which doth so easily beset us, that’s the things that trip us up. Now, some things are just weights. They’re not sins in and of themselves. But get rid of them. Because if you’re going to run a race… You don’t run a race with an overcoat on. Nothing wrong with an athlete wearing an overcoat, but it’s not going to help him if he’s running a 100-yard dash or the mile or anything else. So that’s a weight. Just lay it aside. An athlete gets down as best he can. He lays aside every weight and still stays decent. And some of them don’t even do that. But you lay aside every weight. And then the sin, which does so easily beset us, that trips us up. Now, as a spiritual athlete, he is saying that you must be separated from sin. There is nothing in your life that is more faith-killing than unconfessed sin. Nothing more stultifying and debilitating to a life of faith than unconfessed sin. Now, I don’t know what that particular sin is that might be in your life. I don’t know what that habit is. I don’t know what that bitterness is. I don’t know what that rebellion is. I don’t know what that idol is. But I can tell you this, friend. Whatever it is, if you cherish it, I really hope you enjoy it because you’re paying a fearful price for it. I really don’t hope you enjoy it. But you understand I’m just being sarcastic. Because, my dear friend, you’re paying a fearful price. I don’t know what it is, but I’m going to tell you this. It is not worth your not having faith in your heart and in your life. You see, the Bible says, whatsoever is not of faith is sin. Now, dear friend, sin is debilitating to a life of faith. So you must be saturated with the Scripture, but you must be separated from sin. But now wait a minute. Here’s the third thing. Not only saturated with Scripture, separated from sin, but dedicated… to the Savior. Look again. Look at it. It’s very clear. Wherefore, seeing we’re compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. Now, This verse literally means, this word looking unto Jesus means looking away from everything else and looking to Jesus. That’s what the Greek verb means. One person translated it this, off looking to Jesus. Not off somewhere looking to Jesus, but looking off from everything else to Jesus. When a runner runs, he’s not supposed to run looking at the other people. Every coach will tell you that you lose just a split second of timing, just a split second of equilibrium if you turn your head any other way except keeping your eye right on the the goal you don’t look at anything else but the goal and Jesus is the author he’s the one who fires the gun he is the finisher he is the goal he puts you in the race he sustains you in the race and he is the goal that you’re running for now listen to me folks it is not great faith in God that you need it is faith in a great God that you need you know the difference you see quit trying to have great faith and start learning who Jesus is just look to Jesus And the more you see of Jesus, the more you understand of Jesus, the more your faith will grow. I’ve used this illustration with you before, but let me use it again. Suppose I wanted to cross the bridge going from Memphis to Arkansas. And I’m afraid that the bridge can’t hold me up. And so I stand on the Memphis side of the bridge and I try to make myself believe that the bridge can hold me up. Now, of course, it’s obvious that the bridge can hold me up. Okay, but I don’t know that. Now, I could be over here trying to make myself believe, trying to work up faith and all of that. Or here’s what I could do. I could just observe the bridge. I could just look at the bridge and I see great semi-trucks going over the bridge. I see automobiles and people going over the bridge. By looking onto the bridge, examining the bridge, just watching the bridge, then faith is the byproduct of understanding and seeing that bridge. Now, faith is the byproduct of seeing and understanding Jesus Christ. Look to Jesus. Understand who the Christ of the Scripture is. Get in the Word of God. And when you begin to look at Jesus, look to Jesus, look to Jesus, look to Jesus, He is the author and the finisher of your faith. Now, just lay aside all sin. That dims your view of Him. And then look to the Lord Jesus. Here’s the fourth thing, and I’m going to be finished. You’ve got to be saturated with the Scripture. You’ve got to be separated from sin. You’ve got to be dedicated to the Savior. And then you’ve got to be activated by the Spirit. When you look to Jesus, then what do you do? Look at it. Run with patience, verse 1, the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus. Now, when you see Jesus, and He beckons you, get in this race, and He tells you to run… Then you run. Remember I told you what faith, the difference between faith and belief? And I said that faith is belief with legs on it. Now, you are to run with endurance. How does an Olympic runner develop his skill? There’s only one way. Not by studying books about running, but by running. How are you going to develop your faith? Not just simply by listening to sermons on faith, but by believing God. Find something that you can believe God for and begin to believe God for that. And then you’re going to see yourself growing in grace. I was reading a while back about how they built the first bridge over the Niagara River there at Niagara Falls. And what they did was a very interesting thing. First of all, to get across that river, they tied a string to a kite. and flew a kite to the other side of the river. And then to that string, they tied a cord and brought the cord back across the river. And to that cord, they tied a rope and brought the rope back across to the other side of the river. And then to that rope, they tied a chain and brought the chain back across to the other side of the river. And then they tightened the chain and they had a line built. And as a result, they built a mighty bridge. First, just a string. Why don’t you believe God for something tonight? I mean, why don’t you just fly that kite of faith tonight and say, Lord, maybe I’ll just… Hey, I’ll tell you a good place to start. I hadn’t intended to say this, but I’ll put it in. Why don’t you start tithing? It’s a good place to start. Hey, folks, if you can’t tithe, what are you going to do with the big stuff? I mean, that’s kindergarten. That’s Mickey Mouse. I mean, if you can’t trust God with a dime out of a dollar, what are you going to do when the big issues of life come? Bring you all the tithe to the storehouse and prove me herewith, saith the Lord of hosts. If I’ll not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing, there shall not be room enough to receive. Just begin there. That’s a good starting place. You don’t end there. You just start there. What I’m trying to say is this. Look, folks, look, look. Faith. Faith is what? It is being saturated with the Scripture. Wherefore, God has said all of these things. God has given you this definition of faith. God has made these promises. Wherefore, all right, God said it. I’m saturated with Scripture. Then I’m separated from sin. I lay aside every weight and the sin which does so easily beset me. I don’t want anything that will dim my view of Jesus. And then, my dear friend, I am dedicated to the Savior. I look to Jesus. I say, Jesus, you’re my all. I look to you. You’re the author, the finisher of my faith. And then I run with patience the race that is set before me. And as I run, I’m activated by the Spirit of God and my faith begins to grow. And I get strong in faith.
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