Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Elim, the denomination that we belong to, has got a little tagline sometimes gets used these days, not very often. Talks about Jesus, Jesus our savior, Jesus our healer, Jesus our baptizer in the spirit, and Jesus our coming king. And I wonder what you feel about that this morning.
[00:00:24] Okay, yeah.
[00:00:27] By the end of what I say this morning, I hope what you feel about it won't matter a jot.
[00:00:38] Many Christians respond to truth through the how do I feel about that?
[00:00:51] Rather than do I believe that 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. You see, the truth is not just in this room, not just online this morning. Everybody in this world believes something.
[00:01:22] There is no such thing as an unbeliever anywhere in the world. Everyone believes something.
[00:01:34] We either believe it to be true or we believe it not to be true.
[00:01:41] Sometimes it feels good to believe it, and sometimes the truth doesn't make us feel good. But I want you to follow a logic this morning. Do you know, there's logic in Christianity.
[00:01:56] It's not just an acceptance of a whole string of mantras. There's logic in this. Here's the logic.
[00:02:06] God is truth.
[00:02:11] If that is so, then I need to find out what he has said, because what he has said has to be truth.
[00:02:23] And then not only do I have to have heard what he says, but I have to believe what he says.
[00:02:32] And then I need to go beyond that, because everyone believes something, but believing is not faith.
[00:02:45] I'll come back to that.
[00:02:47] Believing something is not faith.
[00:02:52] Faith and the need for faith is found right through the Bible. We are saved by faith.
[00:03:00] We can't do anything about a circumstance or a situation. But faith says I have to trust that something else or someone else can do something about that situation, which is why I can say I can't deal with my sin problem, but faith says Jesus has dealt with my sin problem.
[00:03:24] And can I say, it doesn't matter whether you believe that or not, it's still the truth, and it's not how you feel about it to make it the truth. It is the truth. You see, God's role is to be truth. Well, actually, I don't think that's quite right theologically. That's not quite right. God's role isn't to be truth. God is truth.
[00:03:52] It's not a role he takes on to speak truth. Everything he speaks is truth. It's one of his many godly attributes.
[00:04:03] A little boy tried to explain faith like this faith is trying hard to believe what you know isn't true.
[00:04:11] Well, he's wrong on every count. There, you see? Faith is believing what has already been shown to be true.
[00:04:23] Our responsibility is to believe in God's truth, whether it feels true or not. And if we can get through that this morning, that can be incredibly liberating for lots of other things in your life in 1987. Some of us are old enough to remember it. Most of you aren't.
[00:04:46] In the sacred diary of Adrian Place, Monday, January the 6th. 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?
[00:05:01] A very witty title. I feel it's all about how christians should be able to move mountains by faith if they're really tuned into God. Very inspiring.
[00:05:11] Waited till there was no one around, then practiced using a paperclip.
[00:05:19] Put it on the desk, started staring at it, willing it to move nothing.
[00:05:28] Tried commanding it with a loud voice.
[00:05:32] Tuesday, January the 7th.
[00:05:35] Had another go with the paperclip tonight.
[00:05:38] Really took authority of it over it. Couldn't budget. Told God I'd give up anything he wanted if he could just make that paperclip move half an inch. Nothing. Or really worrying, rather, if you only need the faith the size of a mustard seed to move a mountain, what hope can there be for me if I can't get even a paperclip to do what it's told?
[00:06:05] Actually, it's quite simple. You see, whether faith is effective depends on what or whom you believe.
[00:06:16] We'll call that the object of your faith. If you believe in something that's flagrantly untrue, it doesn't matter what you do, it isn't going to happen.
[00:06:29] You see, you might well believe that on the 29 February, which we know only occurs every four years, you could join the cult of the river hoverers in Exeter on the 29 February. It is in the gift of every human being within the boundaries of this city to go to the river x stand on one side and hover across the river to the other side. Apparently, there are many people who believe in this truth.
[00:07:10] They are likely to find out their belief is unfounded on the next 29 February.
[00:07:19] You see, the issue is not that we believe. Everyone believes in something. The central issue of faith is who or what do I believe in?
[00:07:33] The only difference between a christian and nonchristian is quite simply what we believe.
[00:07:42] Who or what is the object of our faith?
[00:07:46] On our last trip to Israel, Mark and I, together with a whole load of other lovely christians went up to the ridgeline of a mountain range. It's known as a mountain in the Bible, Mount Carmel. But it's actually a mountain range in Israel. Somewhere in the vicinity of where we visited, an incredible contest took place. You'll know it so well. Elijah and the prophets of Baal. The ground rules have been agreed. A bull was sacrificed, an altar was set up. No one was allowed to bring any fire. The ball was laid on the altar. The God that answered by fire, he was the true God. Both the prophets of Baal and Elijah believed both were in a place of faith.
[00:08:31] But actually only Elijah had a valid faith object.
[00:08:37] Baal didn't exist. Never has, never will. But the living God of Elijah was so real that the sacrifice was burnt up. And then, just for good measure, so were the stones all around it.
[00:08:50] I propose to you that what Jesus said about faith was and is true.
[00:08:57] We only need faith the size of a mustard seed to move mountains.
[00:09:04] You see, if we believe the truth rather than what we feel about the truth, suddenly the possibilities are limitless, because it's not to do with the bigness of our prayer. It's not to do with the bigness of our faith. And it's certainly not to do with the bigness of how we feel about it. It is only to do with, is it true? Which is why Jesus said, a faith the size of a tiny mustard seed can move the mountain. Because it's nothing to do with the size of the faith. It's to do with the one whose word is either true or it's not. It's as simple as that.
[00:09:53] Our faith objects can fail. Here are some of my faith objects. My wife.
[00:10:00] But she'll look at me and she'll say, and you, our parents.
[00:10:06] But can I add to that these will also fail? Apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, teachers, life group leaders, friends.
[00:10:21] But there is one object of our faith that will never fail. His name is Jesus.
[00:10:29] How can I say this with total confidence?
[00:10:33] Because it is said of him, I believe it to be true. It has been said by the word of God, who is truth. And therefore, the words that I am about to speak are truth. Whether you feel them to be or not, whether you want to respond to them or not, is irrelevant. They are true.
[00:10:56] Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life.
[00:11:05] He cannot change. Because Philippians two said, who being in very nature, God. We started right at the beginning. Who is God? God is truth. Jesus is in nature God. Jesus is truth. Therefore, what I feel about what Jesus said is irrelevant.
[00:11:26] It's either true or it's not.
[00:11:31] Faith grows often in challenging situations. We know the typical story. Did it with my kids when they were growing up, when they were little. Stand on the chair, jump into daddy's arms. They'll do that. Step away a little bit. Jump into daddy's arms, they'll do that. The further you step away, they'll keep going. Why? Because they trust that what you say, that you'll catch them, is true. It's not about how they're thinking about it. They know you.
[00:12:00] Do we know God? The truth. Do we know him?
[00:12:06] Do we know him in our health scares, our financial concerns, in our uncertain futures if we don't, we are going to go through all of the angst and all the trials of those. If we do know him, you're going to go through all the angst, all the scares, and all the trials of him, but you will know right through it. Underneath are the everlasting arms.
[00:12:27] He is never going to let you fall, never let you fail. I finish with this.
[00:12:36] Faith without action isn't faith at all.
[00:12:42] Faith is not about believing.
[00:12:45] Faith is about acting on the truth.
[00:12:50] The words faith, trust and belief in the Bible all come from very similar etymological roots in the Greek. Don't ask me what the Greek is, because it's all Greek to me, but it's true. They come from the same root, so they carry the same sort of meanings.
[00:13:06] It's important to know that faith isn't just about agreeing with something.
[00:13:13] Faith isn't just saying, I believe in it.
[00:13:17] Faith has to be demonstrated by action.
[00:13:23] Faith by itself, if not accompanied by action, is dead. But if someone will say, you have faith, I have deeds, show me your faith without deeds, and I'll show you my faith with what I do.
[00:13:40] People don't always live according to what they believe, but God wants us to.
[00:13:49] The good news is that there's no one here who could not become a more mature and fruitful Christian. There is no one here who cannot resist temptation, who cannot get out of hopelessness, cannot leave behind negative behavior, can't receive God's anointing to become something different, do something different, be something different. In this world, what you need to do, what you need to know, is what's already true.
[00:14:25] Choose to believe it and then act on it.
[00:14:32] It's really quite simple.
[00:14:35] And that, my friends, is choosing to believe the truth.
[00:14:41] Let's pray together.
[00:14:44] So, Father, we can talk to you. Not because we're talking into the air, because we believe that you hear the words of the savior.
[00:14:55] We believe that you hear the words of Jesus who intercedes on our behalf.
[00:15:03] We believe you hear our words directly.
[00:15:08] And so, Lord, in faith, we can come to you because you are truth.
[00:15:15] And because you are truth. Your words are true.
[00:15:19] The words that we can be saved are true. The words that we can be healed are true. The words that we can be set free are true. The words that you give us a future and a hope are true.
[00:15:34] And you're not worried about how we feel about them because they're true.
[00:15:40] But, lord, would you help every single person in this room and online to walk out that truth in how we live? In Jesus name, amen.
