Text: Hebrews 11:1,30; Joshua 6:1-10
Title: It Takes Faith!
Illustration: It was a good answer that was once given by a poor woman to a minister who asked her, "What is faith?" She replied: "I am ignorant, and I cannot answer well, but I think it is taking God at His word."
Faith is a daily necessity whether one is getting married, taking a job, struggling with an illness, or overcoming a handicap. And faith in God is the cornerstone of all other faiths. As one psychiatrist says, "When I learn a patient has no faith in God, I dismiss the case. There is nothing to build on."
I. How Faith Works!
A. Faith is the established conviction concerning things unseen and a settled expectation of a further reward. In Hebrews 11 verse 1 we see that the writer is telling us not what the definition of faith is, but how faith works!
B. The world thinks Christians are the craziest people alive because we put our faith in a God we can’t see! But they fail to realize that we don’t call it trust, we call it faith! It’s the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen! That word substance means, “A standing under,” and literally means “A title deed.”
C. You see folks; faith is the title deed of things hoped for! It’s how you please God! That’s why Hebrews 11:6 tells us, “And without faith it is impossible to please God…” If you are hoping for anything in your life, you must have faith in the substance!
i. Get the title deed to your miracle! If you want your healing, have faith! If you want salvation and redemption to come to your family, have faith, get the title deed for it, for Jesus has already purchased it, He just wants you to have faith for it!
ii. Why don’t you this morning stand in faith and claim the title deed to your miracle! You may not see it at this moment in time, but stand on the Promised of God, and the unseen will become a reality because of your faith in Jesus name!
II. How Do I Get That Kind Of Faith?
A. Romans 10:17 tells us how faith comes about, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
B. You see, this is why its important to go to Church! People that don’t go to Church wonder why they struggle thru their Christian life never really getting anywhere! Never really moving to the next level in faith! You see folks, faith doesn’t come by the laying on of hands, it comes thru hearing the Word of God! Faith doesn’t come by watching football on Saturday, or the Soaps during the week, but it comes by hearing the Word of God!
C. The Bible says that God dealt to every man the same measure of faith. Now faith is described in Hebrew measurement as a quart jar of faith. You say Bobby, that doesn’t sound like a whole lot? No, not when you look at it like that, but when you fill that jar full of mustard seeds, it suddenly turns into a whole lot of faith, and guess what, it only takes one to move a mountain!
D. Church, its high time God’s people take the lid off the jar of faith, and start trusting Him! I’ll assure you that if we would trust and believe God, we’d be dangerous! There wouldn’t be any need in the hospitals! There wouldn’t be anybody here in Stratford left in bondage! I want to tell you this morning it’s going to take faith! I said it’s going to take faith if you want to see your mountain moved! If you want to see this Church grow! If you want to see your kids saved! If you want that job promotion! If you want your family saved! My friend, it will take faith to see the results in the end! And in order to see it happen, it must first be unseen! Step up and have faith in your life! This is what pleases God! Start trusting God; He’ll supply your needs according to His riches in glory!
III. You Need A Jericho Type Faith!
A. Joshua told the people to be silent until he said to shout. Earlier the spies had spied out the land and returned to camp and reported what man sees, and not having Holy Spirit vision! You see their unbelief sealed their fate to not enter the promise land. Their unfaithfulness left them in the Wilderness, never experiencing what God can do thru faithful people!
B. Now with the lessons of history in mind, Joshua’s command to the people to keep silent is a lesson for us teaching us to be silent when you feel like speaking fear and doubt. For our mouth we can either speak blessings or curses!
C. Friend, even if this situation or circumstances you’re going thru seems impossible! Even if it seems silly! God will see you thru and will give you the victory if you will just trust God!
D. Now, how important is it for you to trust in your leadership? This was the children of Israel’s first major military campaign after crossing the Jordan. No doubt, some of them probably thought: “Preacher, your nuts!” That’s the silliest idea I’ve heard of! Marching around a walled city everyday, and then on the 7th day marching around it 7 times and then at that, not saying a thing! Do you know how hard it must’ve been for some of them not to say: “What are we doing out here?” We say it like this: “Where is this preacher leading us?” Building program, “Why that’s the most craziest thing that I’ve heard of!”
E. Or we say it like this: “Is this God’s will for my life?” There’s got to be a much easier way?” Folks, God is not asking you what you think, He is simply asking you to have faith in Him, and watch the walls of depression fall in your life! Watch the walls of fear crumble! Watch the walls of religion and pride collapse when you trust God!
Conclusion (AIM): Some of you here this morning need to let go and simply trust God! Some of you need to trust God for your health! Some for your finances! Some for your job security! And maybe some here need to trust Him for your salvation!
One night, an inquirer, long under deep conviction, but still unsaved, dreamed that he was walking along the edge of a terrible precipice, and fell over it into a horrible abyss. As he was falling he grasped a little branch of some bush that was growing halfway down. There he hung, and cried for help. He could feel the branch giving away. He looked into the dark yawning gulf beneath, and again cried out for help. Looking up, he saw, in his dream, Christ standing on the edge, and saying, "Let go of the twig and I will save you." Looking at the terrible abyss below, he could not. He cried again; and again came the same answer. Finally, he felt the branch slipping, and in the utter desperateness of despair, he let go of the branch, and instantly the arms of Jesus were about him, and he was safe. He awoke. It was only a dream of the night; yet, from the vividness and instruction of its imagery, he was enabled to let go every false confidence, and rely only on the true.
