Living by Faith Part 5

In our study on Living by Faith, we’ve made a big deal out of our examples in Scripture, people who lived their faith and found approval from God.

We looked into Faith words and found a progression that starts with knowledge establishing our beliefs. Then we seek understanding by asking for insight or wisdom to know what the knowledge means. When we are convinced a promise is true, we then act upon that truth. That is the exercise of faith – the action of belief. We exercise our faith when we trust the Lord. The result is God directing our paths.

What did faith produce? Peace. The ultimate ability to rest in the trustworthiness of God. And Hope – the joy of living with expectation.

Rom 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 

Hope: a feeling of expectation and confidence certain things will happen. Since we cannot live without hope, it is a gift within our salvation.

As with everything else within our salvation, Hope is both a possession and a practice. Rom 15:13  May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. 

How does hope become a functioning component of our faith? How do we hope? That’s what our examples showed us.

Rom 15:4  For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 

Heb 6:17  So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul,

Hold fast is the expression of the strength of our security. A source of support and promise. Two types of anchors for a ship: one to steady them and one to hold them fast. Usage is determined by need.

Act 27:29  Fearing that we might run aground somewhere on the rocks, they cast four anchors from the stern and wished for daybreak. 

Difference between wishing and hope: I want. I know.

Last ditch effort to save their own lives. We initiate desperate measures when things get hopeless. They had already reached that point.

Act 27:20  When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned. 

Why would God put Paul through that? To show him the power of deliverance.

2Cor 1:10  He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. 

The expectation that God will show up is the source of our hope.

Curt Paul Richter made many important contributions to the fields of biology and psychobiology. One of his most famous experiments involved drowning rats – a study which, today, would probably land him in jail for animal cruelty.

He knew that rats had a reputation for being able to swim for exceedingly long periods of time. Yet when he placed rats in a tightly confined bucket of water, they quickly discovered they had no means of escape, no means of relief, and literally gave up, allowing themselves to simply sink to the bottom, and drowning, on average, within about 15 minutes.

He knew they had the “physical” ability to continue swimming much longer, so concluded they must have felt hopeless. So he tried again, this time pulling the rats from the water once he saw them beginning to struggle. He let them rest for a short time before he put them back into the bucket. They again began swimming, testing the confines of their surroundings, but instead of giving up and allowing themselves to sink and drown, they kept swimming! And swimming! And swimming! Many swam up to 60 hours until their bodies could simply no longer endure.

What was the difference between these two groups of rats? Richter concluded the difference was HOPE – that feeling of expectation that a particular outcome or desire would come to pass, looking forward to something with desire and reasonable confidence.

These rats had been saved once, so they had hope – the expectation, the reasonable confidence – it would happen again. Do we have to nearly drown to learn that? Maybe. But we could learn it through those who went before us.

Heb 11:27 By faith Moses…endured as seeing Him who is invisible. 

Ex 33:18 Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” 19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The LORD.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” 21 And the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, 22 and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen.” 

How did this moment change Moses? Seeing God’s glory didn’t make Moses become Moses.  Being Moses didn’t get Moses the opportunity to watch God pass by.  God saw into Moses’ heart, saw the faith that He would reward with His presence.

Sight didn’t lead to faith; faith led to sight. But so convinced was He, that later he was able to announce:

Ex 4:13 “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today.

Ex 16:7 and in the morning you will see the glory of the LORD

Where did that confident expectation come from? His assurance God would show up.

It’s our invitation that’s built into our salvation: Ps 46:8 Come and see the works of the LORD,

We cannot live without hope. Even in our darkest nights, we have to believe the sun will come up tomorrow. That by faith we will see God’s hand.

Hope tells us to anticipate the glory of God – that we will see God’s goodness in our lives.

Ps 27:13 I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

John 20:29 Then Jesus told Thomas, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

He’s talking about us.

1Pet 1:8 Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy,

Why? Because He’s given us the opportunity to know Him and the ability to trust Him.

God wants us living with a confidence that what we can’t see is as real as what we can see. 

Heb 11:1 Faith [being] the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 

World War II parachute packers had an unacceptable record: only nineteen out of twenty parachutes opened. One in twenty failed. It was discovered that making the packers test their parachutes by jumping from a plane, quality rose to 100 percent. Today as I understand it, you’re taught to pack your own chutes.

Packing your own parachute makes it possible for you to pack in all you know you will need. Don’t let someone else to pack your parachute. You put in daily the things you’ll need to deal with life. Pack it right with the right beliefs, solid faith, complete trust and absolute hope. Then, when you hear the voice of God say “Jump,” you can jump confidently, believing you have everything you need for the outcome He intends.

2Pet 1:3  seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 

2 Kings 6:15-17 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh, my lord, what shall we do?” the servant asked.  “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, “O LORD, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

God, open our eyes and show us Your glory.

TAKEAWAYS:

1. There are times faith will require us to launch out into the unknown.
2. It is essential we do so with confidence that our chute will not only open but will provide everything we need for us a safe landing.
3. The challenge is to make sure it’s packed with the understanding God has made everything we need available to us.
4. If we have packed it well, we can rest in the hope that when the moment comes to pull the ripcord and trust God, all He promised will be there to accomplish all He intends.