Living By Faith
2nd Corinthians 5:6–10
The teacher asked the children in her Sunday school class.
“If I sold my house and my car, had a big garage sale, and gave all my money to the church, would I get into heaven?”
“No!” all the children answered.
“If I cleaned the church every day, mowed the yard, and kept everything neat and tidy, would I get into heaven?”
Again, the answer was, “No!”
“Well,” the teacher continued, “then how can I get to heaven?”
A five-year-old boy shouted, “You gotta be dead!”
Along those lines:
A minister dies and is waiting in line to get into heaven.
Ahead of him is a guy who’s dressed in sunglasses, a loud shirt, leather jacket, and jeans.
It doesn’t take long for an angel to come over to that man ask him who he is. The guy replies, “I’m Joe Cohen, taxi driver, of Noo Yawk City.”
The angel smiles and says to the taxi driver, “Take this silken robe and golden staff and enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”
The taxi driver goes into Heaven with his robe and staff, and then it is the minister’s turn.
The minister stands up proudly and booms out, “I am Dillon Wayne, minister of the Church of Christ for the last forty-three years.”
To which the angel replies to the minister, “Take this cotton robe and wooden staff and enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”
“Just a minute,” says the minister. “That man was a taxi driver, and he gets a silken robe and golden staff. How can this be?”
“Up here, we work by results,” says the angel.
“While you preached, people slept.
While he drove, people prayed.”
The text for today’s lesson is found in 2nd Corinthians 5:6–10
6. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.
8. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
9. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.
10. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
Doubt sees the obstacles: Faith sees the victory!
Doubt sees the darkest night: Faith sees the day!
Doubt dreads to take a step: Faith soars on high!
Doubt questions, “Who believes?” And faith answers, “I do.”
Our text today says that: “We Walk By Faith, Not By Sight.”
Faith is the essence of WHO we are as Christians.
Hebrews 11:6 tells us that “without faith it is impossible to please (God), for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”
In fact – as a Christian – NONE of us can do much of ANYTHING without faith. As we just read in Hebrews 11:6 It’s impossible to please God without faith.
Ephesians 2:8-9 tells me It’s impossible to have salvation without faith.
Ephesians 6:16 make it clear that It’s impossible to resist evil without faith.
Matthew 21:22 teaches that It’s impossible to pray effectively without faith.
Romans 5:1 says that It’s impossible to have peace as a Christian without faith.
We sing a hymn where the chorus says: “Faith is the victory… that overcomes the world.” And that hymn is right. For the Christian, the only way to have victory in this world is to have faith.
What exactly is faith? Well faith is simply trusting SOMEONE or SOMETHING. There’s a lot of people who try to make faith mystical and complicated, but it’s not really that hard to understand.
For example – we may not realize it but we ALL live by faith. When you drive down the highway you live by faith. There are cars moving all around you – often at high rates of speed, and (whether you pass them-or they pass you) you’re often just a few inches away from another car. And yet – we don’t give that much thought when we’re out on the road. On the road, we live by faith.
And every time you eat out… you live by faith. Did the workers in the kitchen wash their hands? (you don’t know) Did someone cough on your food as they prepared it? (you have no idea)
Did your hamburger fall on the floor in the kitchen, and they just picked it up again and put it back on the plate?
You have no way of knowing that do you?
That’s because every time you eat out… you live by faith.
And when you and I use the medical system, we might end up going to a doctor whom we’ve never met, who diagnoses a problem we’ve never heard of. They give us prescriptions we can’t read, which we take to a pharmacy where we might not get to see the druggist. Later, we open the bottle and take out a pill we do not recognize, and we follow the directions and open wide and … swallow. When you think about it - that takes a lot of faith.
Faith boils down to this: WHO DO YOU TRUST?
A lot of people have no problem trusting other drivers on the road, or the food served in their favorite restaurant, or the doctor who treats them. But when it comes to trusting God people get uncomfortable. How come?
Well, when I go to a doctor, I don’t have to listen to them. If they prescribe something I don’t have to buy it. I DECIDE!
And when I go out to eat - I DECIDE what restaurant I stop at.
I CHOOSE where I eat. If I don’t like the food or service at an eatery, I just don’t eat there.
And when it comes to driving down the road - I have some control. I’m the guy behind the wheel… and I like it that way. I like having control. I like making the decisions.
But with God, faith means I don’t get to make the decisions.
I DO get to choose whether I listen to God or not.
But IF I decide NOT to do what God wants,
then I’ve essentially decided – I don’t trust God!
Now, many of you know I have a granddaughter named Cadence. Every once in a while, I’ll ask her to do something, and she’ll ask: “WHY?” Have you ever had a kid do that to you? It drives me nuts! I didn’t ask for a discussion… I told her what I wanted done. And she asks me why! Why does she ask WHY? Well, she asks me “why” because she doesn’t trust my judgment. She doesn’t agree with my decision. She doesn’t want to do what I’ve asked. And when that happens… there are consequences!
Am I willing to do what God wants me to do without asking why?
And sometimes that’s hard to do, because (as Christians) we walk faith, NOT SIGHT! You see, if I walked by SIGHT, I could see EVERYTHING! I could see what lay ahead… and then when God asked something of me. I would say “OHHH, I KNOW what you’re doing there. I know why you want me to do that! And I AGREE with you God.” But that’s the problem. If I DIDN'T walk by faith, I wouldn’t do what God wanted done UNLESS I agreed with Him. If I didn’t agree… I wouldn’t do it!
Now, Biblical Faith is simply based on this question –
DO I TRUST GOD?
Definition of FAITH: complete trust or confidence in someone or something
Bible Definition is found in Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Imagine a traveler using a compass in a dense fog.
The traveler cannot see the destination, the road ahead, or the landscape beyond the fog. Yet the traveler confidently follows the compass because it is reliable.
Faith works similarly:
• The fog represents life's uncertainties.
• The destination represents God's promises.
• The compass represents God's Word.
• Faith continues walking even when the destination cannot yet be seen.
What Faith Is Not:
• Faith is not blind optimism.
• Faith is not pretending problems do not exist.
• Faith is not confidence in ourselves.
Biblical faith is confidence in God's character, God's promises, and God's power.
I recently heard a preacher talk about
Psalm 119:105 that says: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”
The preacher asked “why doesn't God say that His word is a FLOODLIGHT unto your feet?
Well, because God wants us to walk by faith not sight.
If the Bible was a floodlight you’d be walking by SIGHT. A floodlight shows everything in the distance, but a lamp only shows a few feet ahead.
Why did God do it that way?
Why only allow me to see just a few feet ahead?
Well, because God wants me to walk by faith.
God wants me to trust Him for what I can’t always see…
not by SIGHT which demands that I agree with Him before I obey.
So, part of the problem is my desire to CONTROL my own life to make my own decisions - AND THAT’S NOT FAITH!
Here’s the deal: faith is not ALWAYS knowing what lies ahead. That’s what Hebrews 11 teaches us.
Hebrews 11 is the chapter about the faith of great men and women in Old Testament
Hebrews 11:7 says “By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet UNSEEN, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household...” Noah had never SEEN a flood before, and he MIGHT never even seen rain fall from the sky - but he trusted God and built the ark, and saved his family from disaster.
Hebrews 11:8 tells us “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, NOT KNOWING WHERE HE WAS GOING.”
Abraham didn’t have a map or GPS unit - he simply trusted God to lead him, and he established a future home for Israel.
That happened over and over again throughout Scripture. People listened to God even when it didn’t make sense. They obeyed Him even when faced with danger - and YOU KNOW their names. They are the heroes and heroines of our faith. They were people like Joseph; Moses; Joshua; Rahab; Gideon; David; Esther; Daniel; Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. And the list goes on and on.
These were folks who were willing to take risks for their God, and they lived lives of adventure. Their stories still thrill the hearts and minds of our children.
Years ago, there was a study written up in a journal called “Psychological Science, (which is a journal for Psychologists). According to their research, reminders of God can make people more likely to seek out and take risks. They said that “The findings suggest that people are willing to take these risks because they view God as providing security against potential negative outcomes.”
Faith in God makes us willing to take risks. It makes us willing to go on adventures for our faith.
The idea of living by that kind of faith reminds me of a comment by a man who wrote: “When you come to the end of all the light you know, and it’s time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things will happen: Either you will be given something solid to stand on or you will be taught to fly."
Now, here’s the deal - TRUE faith is based on how much you trust God. It isn’t based on your personal skills or abilities.
• Moses led Israel out of Egypt with a stick (Exodus 14).
• David killed a giant with a sling and a rock (I Samuel 17).
• Gideon and his 300 men attacked and put to flight 135,000 Midianite soldiers with trumpets and torches (Judges 7:8).
These men were heroes because of their FAITH… not their skill. And it was their faith that won the victory. Faith is the victory that overcomes the world. Faith is the link that binds our weakness to God’s power.
Hebrews 11:6 tells us "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 diligently seek Him."
In other words, it’s not enough to BELIEVE God exists... you have to believe He will reward you when you seek Him. Believe God will step when you need Him.
INVITATION
SERMON CONTRIBUTOR: Jeff Strite
