Sermon Central
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Eye On Eternity Series
Contributed by Rick Stacy on Nov 12, 2006 (message contributor)
Summary: 3 of 5 messages on the treasure principles. Live by faith not by sight. Living by faith changes everything about the present as you prepare for the future.
Treasure Principles
Eyes on Eternity
What are you looking at? What is your focus on in life? When you walk down a nature path into the deep wood you see the trees, the forest, or maybe the one who created it all.
Living by Faith
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.
The ancients are those who have lived for God in the past. Men and women like Abel, Abraham, Sarah, Enoch, and all those who are listed here as well as untold masses of other men and women of faith.
They lived by faith and were SURE of what we hope for. They were CERTAIN of what we do not see.
What were they sure of? What was a certainty in their hearts and minds? Keep reading…
3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
I’ve read and studied much that has attempted to explain the origins of life, the beginnings of the universe and the existence of all things – and every answer leaves a question. Where did it come from? How did it happen this way?
The only answer is by faith… by faith we believe there is a creator God or by faith we believe that there is not a creator God and it’s all a matter of a huge amount of matter, random chance, and eon’s of time.
I cannot explain the origins of God but I also cannot explain the origins of matter without God.
I am forced to decide – did matter create intelligence or did intelligence create matter.
By faith the ancients believed in a God that formed the universe by the command of his words.
4 By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.
Faith is not simply a matter of belief. Faith is foundational bedrock upon which a person builds his life. On the footings of faith we place our priorities, our purposes, and our daily activities.
It was because of Abel’s faith that he offered up an offering that was the best and first of his possessions.
5 By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away…
For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. 6 And 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.
Faith is about life – not death. God is about life – not death. We look at death as the natural order of things. If you saw the movie xxx it was built upon a faith in the circle of life in which death was a natural part. This is not what faith in God is about. Death in God’s order of things is the unnatural piece.
7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family…
By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
Faith is not neutral and nice. If the presence of delivers us then the absence of faith condemns us. Faith separates life from death and frankly that’s not easy.
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going…
9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Faith requires action even when you don’t know where it may lead you. Actually faith is as much about the journey as it is about the destination.
11 By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because hea considered him faithful who had made the promise…
12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
Faith is not just about the person with the faith – it’s validity comes from the one who is the object of our faith. In other words, faith works because our faith is in someone who is faithful. A promise is only as good as the person who makes it – and God is faithful to us – we just don’t see it all of the time.
