The Nature of Faith

[00:00:00] We just bow together very briefly. Short word of prayer, dear Lord, we just bow our hearts in thy presence and we thank thee, Lord, that thou art able now, in the few moments we have left to us to further speak to us from thy word. And we pray that thou wilt do that. Lord, these are days in which we need to be fed by thee. We need to learn of thee, we need to be instructed by thee. We need to be instructed in the way that we should go. Thy truth needs, dear Lord, to guide us. O father, we commit ourselves then very, very simply into thy hands. Wilt thou take thy word and make it live? Thou hast been in our midst, Lord, thou spoken to us already. [00:00:51] Now, Lord, just take thy word of wrath. Write it on our hearts. We ask it all in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen. [00:01:02] Now, I feel really in many ways that we've already had message today. But I want just to pass on to you from the first letter of Peter, a few thoughts centred very simply on this matter of faith. [00:01:28] One Peter, chapter five. I want to read from verse five. Likewise, ye younger, be subject unto the elder. Yea, all of you gird yourselves with humility to serve one another. For God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. [00:01:54] Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time, casting all your anxiety upon him, because he careth for you. Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour, whom withstands, steadfast in faith, knowing that the same sufferings are accomplished in your brethren who are in the world. And the God of all grace who called you unto his eternal glory in Christ, after that ye have suffered a little while shall himself perfect establish, strengthen you to him, be the dominion forever and ever. [00:02:59] Amen. [00:03:03] The God of all grace, verse ten. Who called you unto his eternal glory in Christ, every single true child of God has got this calling. [00:03:21] We may not understand it. We may in fact often be quite ignorant as to what it really means. But every single one of us who's been born of the spirit of God, we've been called with this calling. Here it is. The God of all grace has called you, if youre a child of God, and has called me to his eternal glory in Christ. [00:03:52] Now we have spoken the last two Thursday evenings from psalm 46 and weve spoken about the issue of human history, the issue that lies behind all of God's dealings with mankind. It is summed up in that one little phrase, the city of God. There is a river. The streams whereof make glad the city of God, the holy place of his tabernacle, of his habitation. [00:04:25] And when we come to the end of the Bible, we find that that city and all that it represents is filled with glory. [00:04:35] That's how the Bible ends. There's not a single thing in that whole creation that obscures the glory. [00:04:47] We're told that everything is as transparent as crystal, pure glass, even the gold. And you've never seen gold like that, refined so that it can be seen through. [00:05:03] And the glory of God streaming out. [00:05:07] The nations will walk in the light of that glory. The whole earth will be lightened with it. No more sun, no more moon. [00:05:18] This city is both sun and moon. [00:05:21] It will give the light to a new heaven on a new earth, glory of God streaming out of it. And in many ways, we could say that that city speaks. [00:05:34] If you want me very simply to give a definition of the city, I would give it in two words. [00:05:42] In Christ. [00:05:45] The city is to be in Christ. As simple as that. [00:05:52] It's to be in him, part of him, to become members of his body, to have become involved with him, to be joined to him, to have become his dwelling place, his home, his habitation, his bride, however you like to put it. [00:06:15] Isn't it wonderful that Peter, at the end of this marvelous letter says, the God of all grace has called you to his eternal glory? It's not transient glory. It's not a glory for a moment, it's not glory. It's going to be a great blaze for a month or two and then slowly fade like some glorious sunset. It's eternal glory. [00:06:42] Something matchless, something so wonderful that human language cannot even express it. [00:06:50] Who can really define what glory is? [00:06:55] We try to. We say it is the presence of the Lord manifested. And that is the most wonderful way to describe glory, the manifested presence of the Lord. Think of that. The God of all grace has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, to become the vessel for his manifested presence for all eternity, to become the means by which his glory, his grace, his beauty, his loveliness, his attributes, will be seen and marvelled at throughout eternity. Called to his eternal called to his eternal glory in Christ. [00:07:38] You know, we think we know the gospel, but often we don't. We think of a little scripture like this in romans 323 that we trot out again and again in our dealings with those who don't know the Lord. For there is no distinction. All have fallen. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. [00:08:02] But, oh, the wonder of it. The God of all grace has put us back into the glory. [00:08:09] We fell short through sin. [00:08:12] Not one of us has any right to the glory of God, but the God of all grace through our Lord Jesus Christ and his work has called us again to this eternal glory. [00:08:28] Oh, theres so much in the word about it, isnt there? [00:08:32] But we could speak about being changed from glory to glory. We could. Well, one has already said something about glory this morning, but what im interested in is it says, the God of all grace has called you. [00:08:53] Isn't that wonderful? Not the God of all power. It could so easily have said that, and that would be wonderful. But it doesn't say, the God of all power. It says, the God of all grace. [00:09:04] Isn't that a word for Jacob? Like creatures such as you and me, these sheep we were hearing about that are so unsheet like in some ways, and so terribly sheepish in other ways. [00:09:18] Oh, the God of all grace has got hold of us. [00:09:23] And the wonderful thing about the God of all grace is he'll never let us go, and he's laid a foundation under our feet that cannot be shaken. That means the very worst in us can be dealt with, that even the very worst things about us, when they come out in the open, God can still go through with us, providing there's honesty, providing there's confession, providing there's a readiness to put right. Oh, what a basis God has laid for us. The God of all grace. If it was the God of all power, I might feel cut out. If I've had a bad week or something's happened or I've got some problem or something wrong, some failing, some weakness, I would feel, oh, it's the God of all power. That's wonderful. But somehow I don't feel I'm a candidate for this glory. [00:10:16] I'm a reject. [00:10:18] I'm somehow out of the running. [00:10:21] I'm not on course anymore. But it's the God of all grace, and the God of all grace is the one who, when we do go off course, brings us back on course. And when somehow or other, by our own weaknesses and failings, we put ourselves out of the race, he puts us back into the race. Oh, think of David. He was a candidate for the glory of the Lord. Think how he fell and how God put him back into the race. Think of how Peter fell and how God put him back into the race. Think of job's dreadful argument with the Lord after that first initial time of worship, and then his friends got to work on him. His dear, dear, sweet, saintly friends, with all their knowledge and all their biblical expertise, oh, they got to work on him. They reduced that poor man into a heap. [00:11:14] But it was the God of all grace who put him back into the race. These men are all candidates for the glory of God. But you see, what I want you to see is that it says, after that, ye have suffered a little while. [00:11:31] We don't like that. [00:11:34] That's the thing we don't like. If only we could just coast along. If only this river, the streams whereof make glad the city of God would just carry us on, its current above it all so that we hardly feel a thing. But that's not so. [00:11:51] That's not so. [00:11:53] You see, we hear the, as it says in psalm 46, we hear the roaring of the waters. We feel the trembling of the mountain under us. [00:12:04] We see the earth changing. We see mountains shaken into the heart of the sea. But in the midst of it all, we find there's a river. [00:12:16] After that, ye have suffered a little while shall himself. [00:12:21] He hasn't left it to an angel, and he hasn't left it to a pastor or a minister or some other dear servant of the Lord. [00:12:33] He himself shall perfect you, establish you, strengthen you the suffering. [00:12:46] Now that's why the verse before is so important. Whom withstand, steadfast in faith. Oh, the attack is on our faith. Make no mistake about it, the assault is on our faith. There are two things which, which are absolutely essential in our relationship with the Lord Jesus. Faith and love. [00:13:10] Faith and love. [00:13:12] We're not going to say which is the most important. [00:13:16] Paul says, the greatest, of course, is love. [00:13:21] But faith and love are the two absolutely essential and vital ingredients, if you like, in our relationship with the Lord. Now, the devil knows that. And all the time the assault is on our faith and our love. [00:13:43] Well, now, we will not speak about love this moment, but faith. Oh, the attack on our faith. [00:13:51] Here, you see, it says, be sober, be watchful, your adversary, your enemy, as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. [00:14:04] Let no one think that he can't be a meal for the devil. [00:14:09] There's not a single believer, the greatest of us, that wouldn't make a repast for Satan. [00:14:18] He walks round. He doesn't just sit waiting for you to fall into his lap. [00:14:24] He prowls around like a lion, waiting for the weakness to manifest itself, waiting for the failing to show up, waiting for that point of collapse, his body's meal, waiting for an unguarded, unwatchful moment. [00:14:45] Don't think that the apostle Peter was just being poetic when he said, seeking whom he may devour. He used a very strong word, devour. [00:14:58] When we speak of someone devouring, we don't. Normally we say someone came and ate a meal. We wouldn't say, I had so and so home the other evening and they devoured a meal with me. [00:15:13] But most of us think of this as the devil's walking around as a roaring lion seeking whom he may eat. [00:15:21] As if he would tuck a bib in and sort of sit down to some rather pleasant, courteous meal. It says, seeking whom he may devour, whom withstand. [00:15:39] Steadfast in faith. [00:15:42] Steadfast in faith. Now, why does our faith get so attacked? [00:15:51] What is it the enemy seeks to do just here? Well, one of the ways he does is very simply turns our eyes upon our faith so that we start to look at our faith and say, have I got faith? Have I got enough faith? [00:16:07] And the more we look at our faith and ask, have I really got faith? Well, what is faith? Let me put it under a kind of spiritual microscope and examine the thing. What is faith? Can anyone tell me what faith is? I can't tell you. [00:16:22] It's trust. But how? What is trust? [00:16:27] You can't grasp it in your hand. [00:16:31] You can't say it's made up of these things. In a sense, the more we look in at faith, the devil's got us. The more we say, have I got enough faith? Am I going to go through? [00:16:44] Will I be able to overcome this problem? Can I shift this mountain? [00:16:49] Have I got enough faith to do it? [00:16:52] Oh, the devil. Once he's got us there, he's got us trapped. You see, faith is a spontaneous thing. We look away to the Lord Jesus Christ and the moment we see him, faith spontaneously comes from our heart. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God or the word of Christ. [00:17:14] In other words, we hear something about the Lord Jesus. We hear something from the lips of the Lord Jesus and immediately, spontaneously, we believe, we see the Lord. [00:17:29] Then it becomes a question, is the Lord big enough for this problem? [00:17:33] Is the Lord smaller than this difficulty? Is the Lord somehow hamstrung on this? Is the Lord walled in, encircled, blockaded? [00:17:46] Is this everest bigger than the Lord Jesus? Now, once I start to look away and see the Lord Jesus Christ, then immediately into my heart comes trust. It's a spontaneous thing. I'm not saying, oh, I feel full of faith. [00:18:01] No, I'm saying, well, this is terrible, all this business around me. But the Lord oh, he's wonderful. [00:18:09] Then you can sing how great thou art from the heart because you're not conscious of your faith. You're conscious of the person, of the Lord Jesus. [00:18:21] You remember the day that Isaiah, in a year of tremendous crisis, was in the temple. [00:18:29] And perhaps he was sort of thinking to himself, have I got faith? Oh, God has called me to be a prophet in this dreadful situation. And the whole thing's collapsing, the whole country's going back. Have I got faith? Oh, I feel paralyzed. I feel so small. I feel so little. And the Lord, as it were, lifted up his head just a little. [00:18:51] And he saw the temple. No, he didn't see the temple. He saw the Lord high and lifted up. And the train of his robes, the skirts of his robes hid the whole temple. They filled the temple so that all he could see was the Lord himself. [00:19:12] Then Isaiah got up and he went out. [00:19:18] He had a ministry. [00:19:20] And of all the prophets, surely, surely Isaiah is the prophet of the greatness of God. [00:19:28] Oh, the greatness of God's grace, the greatness of God's power, the greatness of God himself. He'd seen something. Don't you see? You and I, we need to see that whilst the devil, as it were, is prowling around waiting. Now, we don't want to get afraid of that. Why, some people get so afraid of the devil, they feel he's here and then they're there and then he's over there and then down, then up. You know, I mean, I'm acting it more or less for you, but in actual fact, that's just like some christians. They come into a meeting and you feel they're just absolutely neurotic. [00:20:06] Oh, is the devil here? He's been on to my town the whole day. Where is he? [00:20:11] But I mean, quite honestly, there's no need to be so afraid of the devil, whom withstand firm in faith, steadfast in your faith, withstand him. The new English Bible says, stand up to him. [00:20:33] Just stand up. Don't go out. Stand up in Christ. Stand. [00:20:40] Say, I'm in the Lord Jesus. I'm not going to talk with the devil. I'm going to talk with the Lord Jesus. O lord, you're wonderful. I'm in you. [00:20:49] You're all round about me. You are my protection, you are my deliverance. [00:20:57] There's no need to be afraid of the devil. The devil cannot devour a single believer unless there's pride. [00:21:04] And thats why the apostle Peter, who knew more than many of us this deep, deep lesson about pride and humility if you think of his life, he prefaces the whole thing with God. Resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Then he goes on, be watchful, be sober. Your enemy, your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. [00:21:41] Brokenness, humility. [00:21:45] And the God of all grace, oh. Hath called you to his eternal glory in Christ. You turn back to one Peter, chapter one, verse three. Oh, you know them so well. Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy, begat us again unto a living hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead unto an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away or reserved in heaven for you. Isn't that wonderful? Born again to a living hope. [00:22:24] And that's it. It's all there. Now. [00:22:27] Who by the power of God are guarded through faith. [00:22:36] Have you ever really recognized that little phrase? Through faith? [00:22:41] Guarded or in the old version, kept by the power of God? [00:22:46] Kept by the power of God through faith unto a salvation ready to be revealed. Oh, the greatest miracle in this world is going to be the final revelation of the salvation of God. You think the salvation of God has been revealed? Of course it has. In our Lord Jesus Christ. You think you've got the salvation of God? Yes, you have. But the scripture says there's going to be a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Oh, what a day. [00:23:13] What a day. When that final salvation is fully manifested now were kept by the power of God unto that day. In other words, theres no excuse for any of us to have come short or to have somehow gone out or got sidetracked or anything like that. [00:23:38] We can be kept by the power of God, but through faith. [00:23:43] How do we get faith? Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith? Don't look at faith, don't look at yourself and say, well, I don't know. I'm a poor person. [00:23:55] I just don't have faith. Naturally. That's all right. Nor did Thomas, and he was one of the twelve and he ended up an apostle. [00:24:10] God dealt with it. Faith is not being credulous or superstitious or finding it easy to believe. Thats not faith that comes unstuck when the devil really gets to work on us. Faith is the gift of God, and its the faith which is in the son of God. I take it, I take it. It comes into me its his faith. Do you understand? [00:24:34] I look away to him and as I see him, his faith, the faith which is in the Lord Jesus comes into me and I believe I can trust, I can be surrounded by doubt, I can be surrounded by darkness. But I have faith in my heart, kept by the power of God through faith. [00:24:58] And then lastly, in the next verse, wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a little while if need be, ye've been put to grief in manifold trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold that perisheth, though it is proved by fire, may be found unto praise and glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ. [00:25:19] Now you see this word in the old authorized version, the trial of your faith, and in the revised version, the proof of your faith. And in some of the modern versions, it's put the proving of your faith, which is even better. The word really is testing something, or how can we put it? [00:25:46] Testing something, drawing something out that is there to show that it's there and it is the genuine article. [00:25:54] Some people think that the trial of their faith is to destroy the little faith they've got. Oh, why has the Lord allowed me to come into this situation where I'm so tested and somehow I find it so hard to believe? But don't you understand? [00:26:08] God never puts anyone into a trial of faith where there's no faith. [00:26:14] You've got enough faith to come through. [00:26:18] That's the point. You have actually got enough, because God never brings us into a trial above that we are able. So what happens is this, that when you come into this trial, God is proving something. Now thats beautiful when you think of it. Hes proving. What is God proving? Hes proving that theres real faith there. [00:26:37] Its more precious than gold that perisheth. Now gold is a pretty good material as far as perishability goes. I mean, it will outlast most things, but this faith is more precious than even that kind of gold. [00:27:02] And God is proving something. [00:27:06] Some people can't live with any kind of trial or test, but in the christian life, every new step is tested. [00:27:19] As soon as the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit, anointed the Lord Jesus, he was driven out by the Holy Spirit to be tempted of the devil. [00:27:31] Now we will never be tempted like that. [00:27:34] But there is a principle there single new step is tested. The word of the Lord is tried. [00:27:45] So when God gives you something, then immediately, well, not necessarily immediately, but surely following either immediately or sometime later, that will be put to the test. Now in that test, you will lose some of the surplus, the superficial, the shallow, the attached. But the real faith comes through purified. [00:28:16] I remember years ago being told that every time there's a storm, the roots of a tree have gone that little bit deeper. [00:28:28] The storm has tried the tree and torn the tree, swept it about backwards and forwards to try and just throw it over. [00:28:40] But when the tree has come through, its roots have just gone that little deeper, have got a bigger purchase. [00:28:49] And that's what happens to you and me after that. Ye have suffered a little while. Himself shall perfect, strengthen, establishment you to him be the dominion forever and ever. Don't be afraid if you're in a trial of your faith. Thank God. [00:29:10] Thank God. It's not easy to thank God. Why, James, one of the duras of the apostle of the writers in the New Testament says, quite simply, counted all joy, brethren. Now that's a thing we can't always do unless we see why. The fact that I'm in this trial means that God is doing something. He's proving something. He's proving something to me. [00:29:39] He's proving that there's a faith which can be tested. [00:29:45] And after it's over the storm, these roots will be just that, more deep and more firm, perfected, strengthened, established. Shall we pray? [00:30:09] Dear Lord, we do pray that every one of us may look away from ourselves, from our faith, from whether we feel we've got great faith or little faith or whatever it is to thyself. O fill us, Lord, with a vision of thy greatness, of how infinite thou art, Lord, in every way. Thy mercy, thy steadfast love, from everlasting to everlasting upon those that fear thee. O dear Lord, we pray that we may see something of thy greatness. And as we see that greatness of thine, Lord, so we shall find in our hearts that faith we pray for everyone in this place, young or old, who's in a trial of their faith, put to grief through manifold trials, Lord, we ask that thou wilt somehow comfort them and encourage them that they might know, Lord, that this is not the destruction of their faith, but the proving of their faith, that it may be found unto praise and glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ. O Father, when that salvation ready to be revealed, is finally revealed, may every one of us have that which is to the praise and glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ, we ask it in his name. Amen.