IF Part 5
Scripture: Proverbs 2:1-5; 9-11; Hebrews 11:13-15; Matthew 17:14-21
This message concludes my five part series on “IF”. In the first four messages I gave you the definition of “IF” and how it relates to our fellowship with God. I talked about “IF” as it pertains to our pride; our hearts; what we believe; and how we choose to obey or not obey what the Bible says. Well, let’s be real clear here – how we choose to obey or not obey what God says. Each message built on the message preceding it and this was on purpose. You see, our pride will keep us from accepting Christ as our personal Savior because we truly don’t understand why we need what He is offering and we don’t believe what will happen to us if we choose not to accept Him. If you recall, pride was what rose up with Satan and caused him to rebel against God. Once we move past our pride and come to the understanding that we need a Savior, things shift to our hearts. Just as pride originates within our hearts, believing, obedience and faith also originate within our hearts. In parts three and four we dealt with believing and obedience and we will conclude this series with “IF” situations as it relates to our faith. How many of you know that it is impossible to grow in faith in God if we do not understand, accept, believe and obey His Word? This morning we will set the stage by going back to the reference we read in part three from the book of Proverbs.
Proverbs 2:1-5; 9-11 says, “My son, IF you will receive My words and treasure My commandments within you; make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding; for IF you cry for discernment, lift your voice for understanding; IF you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will discern the fear of the LORD and discover the knowledge of God….. Then you will discern righteousness and justice and equity and every good course. For wisdom will enter your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; discretion will guard you, understanding will watch over you.”
I want to spend a few minutes on this passage so that you will truly grasp what it is saying. In this passage we see “if you will receive,” “if you cry” and “if you seek.” New Light, what these “ifs” indicate are a longing of a person’s heart for God. When I read them, I saw how God was lovingly giving us instructions for coming to Him and experiencing a deeper level of fellowship with Him. Our Father wants our fellowship so much that He’s giving us step by step instructions on how to make it happen! And what we also see here is this: if we don’t take the initiative, if we don’t act first, God will not be able to help us understand what it means to fear Him – in other words, what it means to love and esteem Him above everything else – or to understand the depths of who He truly is, and by extension, who we truly are. New Light, if we as a church do not fully buy in to what we read in the first five verses of this chapter, it will be impossible for us to live in verses 9, 10 and 11.
As I shared in part three, in Proverbs 2:1-5 and 9-11, we see that for a child of God, there is no other way for us to live. Now hold your thoughts here for a moment because I want you to see how this relates to faith. Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” The Bible tells us that our faith comes through the Word of God – reading it, audibly hearing it and, most important, believing and acting on what we read and hear. This is where faith comes from. So if faith originates with the Bible, then what we read in Proverbs is even more important. When we start to read the Word of God and accept it, faith follows. That’s a promise from God. You can take it to the bank. When faith follows, then our “IF” situations are addressed with faith rather than doubt or outright unbelief. Look at what was written in Hebrews chapter 11.
The eleventh chapter of Hebrews is often referred to as the hall of faith. It lists Old Testament believers from Abel to Noah to Abraham who believed God and acted on His word strictly by faith. The fellowship with God existed through faith and they were not the only ones. The chapter also mentions Sara, Moses, Gideon, Samson and others. What I want you to see though is captured in verses thirteen through fifteen. It reads, “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, IF they had been mindful of that country from which they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.” (Hebrews 11:13-15) This chapter records that all of these believers “died in faith, not having received the promises.” I want you capture what this is saying. They died IN faith. In their sufferings and persecutions, they did not turn their backs on God. They remained steadfast in what He had said to them and were convinced that what God had said He would do. And they did this, New Light, even though not one of them lived to see the promise that God said was theirs. Think about that. Remember when we talked about the three Hebrew boys in Daniel and they told the king that even if God didn’t deliver them they would not bow? The believers in Hebrews 11 were just like them. They believed that what God had promised He would bring to pass – even if He didn’t do it in their life time! New Light, that is faith! Verse 13 says that all of them died in faith, not having received the promises, but saw them afar off and chose by faith to believe that they were strangers in a strange land. Then comes the “IF”. It says that “IF” they had been thinking of where they had come from they might have thought about going back. You see, even when walking in faith we will be faced with “IF” situations that will offer us the opportunity to turn around and go back. This morning I want you to see that in these “IF” situations, when we face them in faith, we are saying that we are willing to walk with God even though we do not know the how, when or where it will take us. This is what the storyline was in Hebrews chapter eleven and why it gives us the opportunity to understand where we are today. So let’s examine some “IF and Faith” situations. Turn with me to Matthew chapter seventeen and we will begin reading at verse fourteen.
“And when they came to the multitude, there came to Him a certain man, kneeling down to Him, and saying, ‘Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is epileptic, and is very ill: for often he falls into the fire, and often into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not cure him.’ Then Jesus answered and said, ‘O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I endure you? Bring him here to Me.’ And Jesus rebuked the demon; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour. Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, ‘Why could not we cast him out?’ And Jesus said unto them, ‘Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, IF you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say unto this mountain, Remove from here to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. But this kind goes not out but by prayer and fasting.’” (Matthew 17:14-21)
In this story we see Jesus healing a man’s son whom the disciples were unable to heal. The disciples went to Jesus privately and asked Him why they were unable to heal the man’s son. Jesus told them it was because of their unbelief. It was because even though they went through the motions of trying to cast the demonic spirit out of the man’s son, within their hearts they did not believe they could do it. They did not have the faith necessary to cast the demon out. Then Jesus tells them that “IF” they had the faith of a grain of mustard seed then they could command a mountain to be moved to another place and it would happen. People read this and focus on the small grain of a mustard seed. What we miss is that while a grain of mustard seed starts off very small, when it is planted it grows into a large bush. In other words, we have little faith right now – faith that might be mixed with unbelief that nullified the faith, but as we continue in the Word and “plant” it within our hearts our faith grows just as the mustard seed does when it is planted in the ground. Now this is important too. In verse twenty-one Jesus added something else that applied to this particular demon. He said that kind comes out by prayer and fasting. In other words, a person must be ready to deal with that type of spirit – praying and fasting before attempting to cast it out. Praying and fasting in conjunction to feeding on the Word of God will increase our faith. Let’s continue. Please turn to Second Corinthians chapter thirteen.
Look at verse five. It says, “Test yourselves to see IF you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you - unless indeed you fail the test?” (2 Corinthians 13:5) Remember when you were in school and had to take a final exam and that exam would determine if you passed the course? Maybe that final exam was weighted much higher than the homework and other tests you had taken so you studied harder and made sure you were ready for the test. Well this is what Paul told the Corinthians. He told them to test themselves to see “IF” they were in the faith. How many of you have ever heard of the term “acid test?” An acid test is “a decisive test that establishes the worth or credibility of something.” Paul told the Corinthians to do an acid test on their faith as it will expose a false faith as a counterfeit coin. What were the Christians to test themselves against? The “acid test,” if you will, is comparing their lives to what Paul has taught them according to scripture. And New Light, that truly is the only “acid test” that matters. It doesn’t matter what I or anyone else say. What does the Bible say? What does God say?
If Jesus Christ is truly within us then we are a new creature. Second Corinthians 5:17 says “Therefore IF anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” If we are in Christ by faith we are new creatures. The old man (the spirit nature and the power of the devil working in men of disobedience) has passed away from those who have received Christ. The Bible describes our past life in terms like these:
• The old man (Romans 6:6; Ephesians 4:22);
• Sin (Romans 6:4-8:2);
• The lust of the flesh (Ephesians 2:3);
• The lust of the eyes and the pride of life (1 John 2:15-17);
• The world (James 4:4); and
• The carnal mind (Romans 8:1-13).
• Having no hope and without God (Ephesians 2:12)
These are references to man before he accepted Christ. So in verse five of Second Corinthians chapter thirteen Paul was telling the people to do an acid test on their faith – if they were in the faith; if they were truly walking with Christ. And that’s what the word “in” communicates in the verse. It means being in a “fixed and unmovable position.” When we are “in faith,” there is nothing that can convince us that what the Bible says is true and there’s nothing that convince us that what God has promised to us He will not perform. The acid test was based on “IF” they were still living like they used to prior to accepting Christ. He said that they should know themselves whether Jesus was truly within them. He warned them against failing that test. “IF” we are walking in faith it should be seen in how we are living and in the decisions we are making every day. Turn to Hebrews chapter ten. It is important that we get this right. I told you previously that we cannot grow in our faith if we are living in disbelief and disobedience (sin). I want you to see what the writer said about this in the tenth chapter of Hebrews as he gave a warning about the outcome of not testing ourselves. Let’s start with verse twenty-three.
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. For IF we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries…..It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God…..But My righteous one shall live by faith; and IF he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul. (Hebrews 10:23-27; 31; 38-39) We must test ourselves to see IF we are living according to the Word of God. Hebrews says that if we continue to sin, on purpose, after we know truth – What truth? That the thing we are doing is wrong, that it is sin. If continue to commit the sin, then there is no other sacrifice that can be made for such person. Remember, Jesus sacrificed His life so that we could live a sin-free life. Continuing in sin after accepting Him will nullify what He did for us. The writer also writes that we should live by faith and IF we slack off from doing so, Jesus has no pleasure in us. That’s a harsh result when we understand that the one we claim to love as our Savior is not pleased with us when we refuse to walk as He commands. I want to cover just a couple of additional verses before I close. These verses pertains to our living out our faith in everyday life. Turn with me to First Timothy chapter five.
For all of the parents and Church leaders I want you to hear and remember this verse if you are not taking care of your business at home or at Church (leaders as it pertains to looking out for the needs of the congregation.) Verse eight says the following, “But IF anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” (1 Timothy 5:8) Paul told Timothy (who was a young Pastor) that if anyone did not provide for their own then they were denying the faith and were worse than an unbeliever. So we all know that all unbelievers will not inherit the kingdom of God sooooooo to be worse than an unbeliever must be pretty bad don’t you think? While I am not saying that this person will end up in the lake of Fire, I am saying that God will not look upon this person favorable if they are not taking care of their own. And here’s why. If I am not willing to provide for my own family or congregation, how likely is it that I am willing to do something for someone outside of my family? How charitable will I be with a stranger; someone in prison; someone who is homeless; or anyone else in need? If I am not willing to provide for my own family how can God use me to provide for His? We need to understand that it does not matter how badly they may have treated us in the past, we are to walk as God commands, not as we choose ourselves. And folks, let me say this: if this applies to a person who is serving in a leadership capacity in a church, that person is not qualified for that position and should be removed immediately. I have one final Scripture before I close. Turn to James chapter two.
Let’s begin reading at verse fourteen. “What use is it, my brethren, IF someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? IF a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, IF it has no works, is dead, being by itself.” (James 2:14-17) Oh there are many who will tell you all about their faith, but James, the Lord’s brother, makes it clear. If you have faith and you are doing nothing with it or through it, your faith is DEAD! Dead faith does nothing. Remember when I talked about being dead to something it can no longer affect you? I used the example of a dead body and no matter what you do to it it does not respond because it is dead to this world? Well James is saying something similar. He is saying that our faith is dead if we are not doing works through it.
James was talking to people who believed that because they had faith, works was not necessary. They did not have to do anything once they had faith in Jesus. Are we not seeing this today? James did not say that they had real or active faith, but that they claimed to have faith. He told them that faith without works is dead and likewise, works without faith is dead. He used the example of someone in need and we turn them away and tell them to be blessed without giving them what they need. Can you imagine this? Someone you know is truly in need and you tell them “I will be praying for you” even though you have the means to help them. This is happening in the world around us today. James said IF we have faith then works will follow. Do you know the truth that James is communicating here? He’s telling us that if we truly have faith that God will supply our needs, then we will not hesitate to help someone else who is in need. Our faith, believe God will provide for us, translates into work – us becoming God’s hands extended to someone in need! This is faith with works.
In this series we have covered several areas of IF situations and I want to summarize them for you quickly so you see how they are all connected. First and foremost we must remember that “IF”, as defined in the dictionary, is “a conjunction used to indicate the circumstances that would have to exist in order for an event to happen.” It applies preconditions that must exist in order for something else to happen. I shared early on in this series that I wanted you to think about what the word truly means as it relates to how we interact with God. I gave you the example of someone saying, “God, if You do this for me then I will do that for You”? This statement is full of pride because the statement is placing a condition on something we are willing to do for God only after He first does something for us and as I told you before, it doesn’t work this way. I told you that pride will keep us from fully walking in fellowship with God and it is the fellowship that we have with Him where the blessings come into play. Remember, our relationship is about our being His sons and daughters through Christ. Our fellowship is based on how we walk in agreement with His word.
When we begin to walk in agreement with His word then we place His word in our hearts. We start to believe and then we act on what we believe. Believing starts the relationship and it continues to foster the fellowship as we believe more and more of His word. But just believing is not enough. James 2:19 says, “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.” Just believing is not enough. We must have a heart change. We must begin to place His word in our hearts so that our hearts are changed. Remember the story I told of the three Hebrew boys and how they told King Nebuchadnezzar that they knew God could save them but even if He didn’t they still would not serve his gods? That was about their hearts. They walked in fellowship with God in their hearts so that they did not face an IF situation relating to the King’s request.
When we are settled in our hearts that we are serving the one and only God through His Son Jesus Christ, then we choose to obey. Our obedience is mandatory – you cannot have faith without first being obedient. When we begin to obey through our knowledge of His word, our faith grows. As our faith grows we truly become aware that our IF situations are not really IF situations – they are opportunities for us to walk in our faith.
As I close this morning I want to leave you with this. As I shared in part two of this series, when we have settled in our hearts about our fellowship with God, whenever we face “IF” situations that requires us to rebel against God or deny His spoken Word, it’s becomes a no brainer. Our response is already set. We do not back down. Even though some in the church today don’t believe that God’s word is true because they don’t see it manifesting in their lives I want to make two points about this. First and foremost, God’s Word is true even if we never see it manifest in our lives; and the truth of God’s Word is never the issue. And we read examples of Old Testament saints in Hebrews 11 whose faith never wavered even though they did not receive the promise in their lifetimes. Our fellowship with God, our agreement with God and His Word, is the issue. And this is the truth that the “IF” statements shines a light on, and makes transparent, every single time. How we respond to the Word of God makes what we believe about His Word transparent. Please remember that an “IF” situation only truly exists when the person believes they have an option. If, as a child of God and walking in fellowship with Him, we are bound to follow His will, then there are situations where we do not have an option. In those situations it’s a heart issue. If our hearts are aligned with God’s heart – let me say it this way, if our hearts beats with God’s heart – our decision is already made for us and that means that the “IF,” whatever it is, is not an issue because we do not have a choice.
As you go through your week this week and you are faced with an IF situation, don’t ask yourself “What would Jesus do?” and then don’t do it. KNOW what He would do and then do it by default. Begin to learn His word so you do not need to ask what He would do, you know what He would do and you just do it!
Until next time, “The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
(If you are ever in the Kansas City, KS area, please come and worship with us at New Light Christian Fellowship, 15 N. 14th Street, Kansas City, KS 66102. Our service Sunday worship starts at 9 a.m. and Thursday night Bible study at 7 p.m. Also, for use of our social media, you can find us at newlightchristianfellowship on FB. To get our live stream services, please make sure you “like” and turn on notifications for our page so you can be notified when we are live streaming. We also have a church website and New Light Christian Fellowship YouTube channel for more of our content. We are developing more social media streams so please stand by and we will notify you once those channels are up and running. We look forward to you worshipping with us. May God bless and keep you.)
