Summary: This is the third message in the series "From The Problem To The Solution". This talks about finding faith to make it to the solution. The outline is 1-)The Search For Evidence 2-)The Source For Evidence.

From The Problem to the Solution

#3 - FINDING YOUR EVIDENCE

This morning, we are continuing our series of messages where we’re talking about going "From the Problem To The Solution"

And over the last few weeks, we’ve discovered that God wants us to go from the problem to the solution

He doesn’t want us to stay in a perpetual state of…

--defeat

--depression

--lack

The Psalmist said…

Psalms 34:10 (KJV) "The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing."

He wants us to go FROM THE PROBLEM TO THE SOLUTION

Now, we told you the 6 reasons for all of life’s problems…

--world we live

--choices we make

--enemy we face

--people we know

--progress we gain

--God we serve

And we told you that the very first step to get to the solution was to ACKNOWLEDGE THE PROBLEM – don’t live in denial, be willing to confront people you know that are hurting themselves

And then, the second major step is you have to MAKE A CHOICE

And we talked to you about how to make the right choices

And along with these messages, we’ve preached on Sunday nights on some complimenting themes…

--Thank God for Romans 8:28

--Faithing It

--Above And Beyond

But this morning, I want to give you the THIRD STEP in going from the problem to the solution

And that is FINDING YOUR EVIDENCE

And I want us all to be "spiritual detectives" this morning, because if we’re going to go from the problem to the solution, we need to find out what the Word says about the problem, find our evidence, and move on to the solution

Let’s read…

•Hebrews 11:1-2 (KJV) "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (2) For by it the elders obtained a good report."

•2 Corinthians 13:1 (KJV) "This is the third time I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established."

INTRODUCTION

Here, in our first text, we find the classic definition of faith

Hebrews 11:1-2 (KJV) "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

Now let me start out by saying "What Faith is Not…"

It is not…

--a magical formula (hocus, pocus, abra cadabra)

--denial (I’ve got a fever of 103, but I don’t have it!)

--faith in faith (it’s faith in GOD)

--instant gratification and answers (we’ve emphasized "NOW" faith over "THROUGH" faith)

No – listen carefully the definition again – Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen

Now, let me tell you that the word "hope" doesn’t mean "wish"

It means ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY!!!

The Bible says…

Titus 2:13 (KJV) "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;"

In other words, the Bible calls the rapture the blessed hope not the blessed maybe

But I want you to understand what this definition is saying

It’s really saying that FAITH IS THE *****TITLE DEED***** TO OUR SOLUTION

Now, we all know what a deed is – it is a piece of paper with certain descriptions on it that entitles the owner to have full proof of their possessions and the legal authority to back it up

A deed is the sure evidence that what belongs to us, is legally ours

And when you talk about going from the problem to the solution, whatever that problem is…

--sin

--sickness

--disease

--debt

--discontent

--unemployment

--anxiety

--fear

--failure

One of the things that is vitally important is that you’ve got to find the evidence that says you have the answer to your need

You need the TITLE DEED

And I want to tell you how you find your title deed and your evidence

Two things – first of all to find your evidence and title do, you have to SEARCH for it

1. THE SEARCH FOR EVIDENCE

Because over and over in the Word of God, there is a principle – and that is if you want…

--to change

--a breakthrough

--success

--to go from the problem to the solution

It will not be handed to you – you have to make a search for it

Jeremiah 29:13-14 (KJV) "And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. (14) And I will be found of you, saith the LORD…"

Now, understand, we’re not talking about salvation – when it comes to salvation, Jesus was seeking for me

But after salvation, for everything else, we have to search for what we desire and what we need from God

Let me explain it to you this way

Have you ever considered and thought about THE GAMES PEOPLE PLAY…

--Jeopardy (you have the answer, but still asking questions)

--Wheel of Fortune (you just kind of live life hoping everything will turn out all right)

--The Price is Right (you just kind of live life guessing and wishing about everything)

--Battleship (you are a raging bull in a China shop, always mad at somebody)

--Solitaire (you just kind of live all to yourself, don’t need anybody)

But here’s a game a lot of people play that really is bad

It’s called THE BLAME GAME

We’re always blaming something on…

--our parents

--our society

--the government

--somebody hurt us

That’s called THE BLAME GAME

Now, I want you to know, that one of the sources of all life’s troubles is other people

But that may be a reason for your trouble, but nothing can stop you from getting the solution

Listen to what Paul said…

2 Timothy 4:14-18 (KJV) "Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works: (15) Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words. (16) At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me…(17) Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me…(18) And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen."

Jesus spoke the Parable of the wheat and the tares, and in that parable He made this statement – Let them both grow together

And the truth of the matter is that NOTHING CAN STOP YOU FROM GROWING

No…

--pain

--person

--problem

You may have been…

--violated

--hurt

--wronged

But God wants you to go from the problem to the solution and you’ve got to stop playing the BLAME GAME

This story proves it…

Only a few hours after my wife and I arrived at the hospital where we holding hands and steadily breathing together. Her contractions had escalated in a matter of hours and before we knew it, she was ready to begin pushing. As I held her hand and counted to 10 with each agonizing contraction, she mustered up what little energy she had left to pass our fourth child into the world. This baby came so quickly, the nursing staff didn’t even have time to prep the room for delivery. It seemed it was all over before it began. As I was cutting the cord, I noticed something was wrong with the baby. She wasn’t breathing normally. She was gasping with her entire body to get air into her tiny lungs. When I pointed it out to the doctor he acknowledged that there was indeed a problem. A nurse came and tried to suction out her mouth in an effort to clear the air passages, but it didn’t seem to help. They gave her a petite oxygen mask and put her under and heat lamb to warm her, but she continued to struggle. As I kept one eye on my baby daughter and one eye on the doctor, I began to seriously worry for her safety. I was worried because the doctor seemed to show very little concern for what was happening. I suppose he knew I was watching his response and using it as a worry compass. But his lack of concern troubled me all the more. In the next 20 minutes my daughter was taken from us and put in a hospital nursery to be kept under close supervision. This was particularly hard on my wife because she had not even a chance to hold our child. The head nurse came into our room several minuets later and explained that because our baby was born so fast she was not able to get all the embryonic fluid out of her lungs. The nurse told us that that this was very common with children who came out so quickly, but they just wanted to keep an eye on her for the next several hours to make sure that she was ok.

For the next several hours, I stood outside the nursery and watched my daughter fight for her life. Watching her body seize up at every breath was almost more than I could take. Every so often the resident nurse would look up from her desk and look up at my daughter and then go back to what she was doing. This began to eat at me because this didn’t appear that this person was giving my daughter the attention she needed. Truthfully, it didn’t seem like she cared. After about 5 hours of this absurdity, I boldly forced my way into the nursery and directly confronted the nurse face to face. I was sick and tired of seeing my baby suffer and I wanted something done about it now. Why couldn’t they just extract the fluid from her lungs? Why couldn’t they call in a specialist? Why weren’t they doing anything but watching? Something needed to be done immediately and it didn’t appear that it was going to happen unless I lit a fire beneath them. The head nurse was called in to speak with me about my concerns and answer my questions and in my impatience, I had only one question. What could be done NOW to help this baby? Her answer was deliberate and premeditated and I will never forget it as long as I live. She looked me squarely in the eyes and said, "There is a lot we can do now to help your daughter, however, we are choosing not to do anything. We are giving this child time to declare herself before we step in and help. She explained to me that helping her now could actually be hurting her in the long run. She said this baby needs to fight for her life so she will become a strong adult in the future. I appreciated that answer so much that I ran into the room to write it down. When I came back to the nursery I stood over my struggling daughter and bent over her and whispered in her ear, "Breath, baby, breath baby, breath baby, breath." In the next few hours baby Eva had won the battle, she was lovingly bundled up and safely returned to her mothers arms.

And if you want to get from the problem to the solution, you’ve got to declare yourself!

You’ve got to search and say, where’s the evidence, where’s my title deed

Jesus said…

Matthew 7:7-8 (KJV) "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: (8) For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened."

Which implies that if you don’t look for it – you won’t find it

And when you have a problem, you need to FIND THE EVIDENCE of the solution that God has promised for your particular need

That is the search

But secondly, let’s look not only at the search, but let’s consider…

2. THE SOURCE OF EVIDENCE

Because, listen to what our TEXT SAYS…

2 Corinthians 13:1 (KJV) "In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established."

Let me give you THREE SOURCES of evidence…

A. One source is the testimony of others

Did you know that others have gone through what you’ve gone through

Did you know that you’re not the only one

And so many times, when we have problems, we think we are the only ones, no body understands

And one thing that can help you get to the solution is hear how others have overcome what you’re going through

When you hear about how…

--J.C. Penny went bankrupt twice, it gives you evidence

--Brother Ernie was telling me about the Missionary family that sat down to eat and nothing on the table and they said the blessing and a knock on the door came, they went to the door and found food!

A young lady and mother in New York City had missed her station on the subway. By the time she realized her mistake, she didn’t know what to do. She prayed for safety and some sign of God’s presence. This was no hour or place for a young, attractive woman to be passing through a rough neighborhood alone. At that moment the doors opened, and a homeless, disheveled man came on board and plopped down next to her. God? Are you near? She prayed. The answer came in a song. The man pulled out a harmonica and played, "Be Thou My Vision" – her mother’s favorite hymn."

When you hear how somebody else overcame…

--poverty

--drug addiction

--alcoholism

That gives you evidence that you can have it to!!

Because God is no respecter of persons, and if He does it for one, He will do it for all

B. Another source of evidence is what God has done in the past

Because this was one of the major problems of the Children of Israel…

Psalms 106:13 (KJV) "They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel:"

The disciples had this issue – Jesus said…

Matthew 16:8-10 (KJV) "…O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? (9) Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? (10) Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?"

We quickly forget what God has done for us

And that’s why David said…

Psalms 42:6 (KJV) "O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee…"

I remember

--when he saved me

--when he sanctified me

--when I was at my lowest, I went on a fast, and 2 men were talking about what I was praying about!

Because there’s one thing you need to understand and that is this: GOD WILL DO IT AGAIN

Has He ever…

--saved

--delivered

--healed

--blessed

--made a way where there was no way

Then He will do it again

Find the evidence where God has already done this

And if you possible can’t, which I highly doubt, then don’t worry

Because the Lord said…

Isaiah 43:19 (KJV) "Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert."

But the absolute greatest source of evidence is…

C. THE WORD OF GOD

For everything that I may face or need in my life, there is EVIDENCE that God will move

If it concerns…

A. HEALING, THERE’S EVIDENCE

• The woman with the issue of blood

• The Roman Centurions daughter was healed

• Blind Bartimaeus

B. THE SALVATION OF MY HOME, THERE’S EVIDENCE

•Jeremiah 31:16 (KJV) "Thus saith the LORD; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the LORD; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy."

•Acts 11:14 (KJV) "Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved."

•Acts 16:31 (KJV) "And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house."

C. DELIVERANCE, THERE’S EVIDENCE

He delivered…

--the children of Israel at the Red Sea

--Daniel from the Lion’s den

--Peter from the prison

D. FAILURE, THERE’S EVIDENCE

If you’ve ever failed – you’re in good company…

--David failed in his MORALS

--Job failed in his MOTIVES

--Peter failed in his MISSION

Bring up Mama Eve – She could say, "When I was at my worst, God was at His best!"

E. DISAPPOINTMENT, THERE’S EVIDENCE

Have you ever been disappointed?

F. DEATH, THERE’S EVIDENCE

That’s why Jesus used THESE WORDS – IT IS WRITTEN

Here’s the TITLE DEED

Here’s the EVIDENCE

And that’s what we need to do when we have a problem

Don’t worry about what…

--is said

--is thought

--is felt

--is reported

--is seen

--is heard

But let’s find out WHAT IS WRITTEN!!!

That’s why Max Lucado said –

Doubt your doubts before you doubt your beliefs. Jesus told Satan, "Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God" (Matt. 4:4). The verb proceeds is literally "pouring out." Its tense suggest that God is constantly and aggressively communicating with the world through His Word. God is speaking still!

IN CLOSING

I want you to come and "stake your claim" in God this morning