Elevate Your Faith Part 1
Hebrews 11
We live in a difficult (and spiritually dangerous) world. A world that can easily shatter a faith that’s casual and shallow. We need to elevate our faith.
Hebrews 11:1 (NLT)
1 Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.
Faith is what moves us – it’s what drives us. It’s what keeps us clinging to God and allowing him to work in our lives, no matter what. Faith is a confident assurance in God based on a solid expectation that God is for us and that God is at work in our lives, and we need to elevate our faith in God. That true, unshakable, no matter what faith. A faith that sees God at work no matter what our physical eyes see. A faith that is confident in God no matter how circumstances appear.
We need a faith that conquers this world and its trials.
We need a faith that will stand up to the enemy’s schemes.
We need a faith that will truly transform our lives.
We need to elevate our faith until it impacts and changes how we see things, how we respond to things, and how we react to things. Do you agree?
Hebrews Chapter 11 is the “Hall of Fame of Faith.” I can’t read it all for you but I am going to skim through and paraphrase it for you.
Paraphrasing Hebrews 11
2 Faith is what distinguished the heroes of the Bible. It’s what set them above the crowd.
4 All the way back to Abel in Genesis Chapter 4. It was FAITH that made the difference between Abel and his brother CAIN (who killed him)
5 Enoch (Genesis 5) Because of his faith, skipped death completely. He walked with God and God just TOOK HIM home!
Hebrews 11:6 says it’s impossible to please God apart from faith. Because anyone who comes to God must believe Both that God Exists and that he Rewards those who come to him in Faith
7 By faith, Noah built a boat the size of the TITANIC on dry land even though He’d never even SEEN it rain. And His act of faith clearly separated the unbelieving world, from the few who DID believe.
8 By Faith Abraham Left his home to follow God having no idea where he was going.
9 he walked into a foreign land God had promised him, and just started living there - TRUSTING God’s promise to come to pass.
11 By faith, Abraham’s wife Sarah became pregnant, even though she was 90+ years old.
12 And by Abraham and Sarah’s FAITH God blessed the world through the people of Israel and specifically through Jesus Christ.
24 By faith, Moses refused the privileges of the Egyptian royal house.
25 and chose a hard life with God’s people rather than a soft life in the sin of the world.
26 Moses valued suffering with God’s people far greater than the world’s wealth because he was looking ahead into eternity anticipating God’s reward.
29 By faith, Israel walked through the Red Sea on dry ground.
30 and they marched around the walls of Jericho for seven days, until those walls FELL Down.
32 Gideon, Samson, David, Samuel, and the prophets.…
33 By faith, they toppled kingdoms, ruled with justice, they took hold of the promises of God. They shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the flames of fire and escaped death by the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight.
AND 35 says: (just as much) there were ALSO those HEROES of faith - who were tortured and refused to give in, preferring Eternal Life over THIS life
36 Others faced abuse and whips, chains, and dungeons.
37 Some were stoned to death, sawed in two, murdered in cold blood; some forced to wander the earth, homeless, friendless, powerless
Hebrews 11:38 says: it was ALL GOOD Because the world didn’t deserve them - anyway!
The heroes of faith had their eyes set on something far greater than this world. They were determined to gain something far more valuable than anything in this life.
Hebrews 11:13 says these heroes of faith did not receive their reward in this life or in this world. So often we think that heroes of the faith should have tangible evidence. Verses 36 and 37 lists those evidences. Those aren’t the rewards. When Paul says in Philippians 4:11-13 that whether I abound or abase, whether I have plenty or suffer need, I can do all things through Christ, he doesn’t mean he can win every football game if he prays. What he means is his circumstances don’t matter. It doesn’t matter if I’m on the top or on the bottom. It doesn’t matter if I have stuff in this world or if I’ve willingly thrown stuff away like Paul says in Philippians Chapter 3. It doesn’t matter because my eyes are set on something far greater, something eternal, an eternal reward, a heavenly city.
That’s what Abraham had his eyes set on. These heroes knew they were just “passing through” this life. Their focus was on their eternal life, on their eternal home, on their eternal reward, and that is what drove them. They had a passion and a focus and an all-in commitment not to gain the temporal pleasures of this life, but to be set in eternity, to be right in eternity, to long for that moment when they show up and Jesus says, “Welcome home! Welcome home my good and faithful servant. Well done!”
They lived totally focused on the eternal promises of God! And because of their focus, because of their commitment, because they changed the way they saw things, the way they felt, the way they responded, and the way they reacted, God did miraculous and wonderful things in them and through them. Because they joined God in God’s perspective that it’s really not about this temporal, pitiful, puny, ugly life. It’s about eternity! It’s about eternal life that you can live today! It’s about a relationship with God that you can have today! It’s about being the Temple of God that you can be today! It’s about experiencing God and seeing God move through you today in preparation for eternity! Do you see that faith is a matter of perspective?
God has great things in store for us but they are not about the sinful pleasures of this world. They’re about eternity.
Maybe you’ve heard some of those stories of the heroes of the Bible and of their incredible faith.
But… how about you? How about us today? How can we even begin to have this level of faith? Can we have this same level of faith that we can walk with God so much that the things of this world fade away? That we are so consumed with eternity that it actually impacts the way we live. You might say, that’s all Christians. But no, it’s not. Most Christians that I know are so consumed with this world, that it’s hard to get them to acknowledge that Jesus Christ actually died for them for eternity, for the heavenly world. God wants to see great faith in you, and it’s all about your perspective.
If we can lift our focus to the heavenly things, to our vertical relationship with God and our horizontal relationship with others, with doing everything unto the glory of God, then we’re still passing through this world. We’re still sojourning through this world. But we, like Paul says in Philippians Chapter 1, know where our citizenship is. Our citizenship is in heaven from where we wait for a Savior who’s going to show up any minute. And we’re getting through this world. There are some mountaintops and there are some valleys, but with Paul, we say we can get through all those circumstances because of Christ. It’s Christ in me that allows me to continue through whatever this life brings, good or bad. It’s Jesus Christ that does it! That’s faith.
How can we begin to elevate our faith in order to walk with God at a truly life-changing level? How do we believe God enough to have it change our lives? How do we make choices based on the presence of Jesus Christ in our lives? We have to ask ourselves, does my relationship with Jesus Christ really impact what I see, how I feel, how I respond, how I react? How can we begin to live as 2 Corinthians 5 says?
2 Corinthians 5:7 (ESV)
7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.
How do we get our faith to actually transform our lives? That is the question. Because far too many people say, “I need God to change my life” and they slip up their hand and repeat a prayer… and then wait for God to change their lives while they go on living the same way they were living before they received Christ. But we never see that in the Bible. John 3:16 is true. That whosoever believes HAS (present possession) eternal life. The word “believe” means to put your full faith and trust in Jesus Christ. What does that look like – repeating a prayer? No.
Putting your full faith and trust in Jesus Christ means it actually impacts some things in your life. You actually start making choices because of your full faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Yes, salvation is immediate. It is by faith alone, and it is permanent. However, it is not a mechanical repetition of some words that really didn’t even exist until the 1950’s. What we need is a full, all-in, no matter what commitment to Jesus Christ. Where we say, “Lord, what I see doesn’t matter – who you are matters. It’s not my circumstances I want fixed, Lord, it’s you, Jesus, I want you. I want to know you. I want to follow you. I want to experience your presence. That’s what I want.” And then you take that faith walk and you apply it to anything in your life. Whether abounding or abasing, whether having plenty or suffering need. It just doesn’t matter. You’re just saying “It’s about Jesus, no matter where I find myself.”
We never see a life changed without a full, all-in, no matter what commitment to God. The faith that will transform your life is a faith that draws closer and closer to God every day, no matter what. This faith impacts your life. It is a faith that is focused permanently on the Person of God and the rewards of eternity, not the fleeting pleasures of this world. THAT is the faith that transforms and THAT is the faith we need! Amen!
Now, I’m assuming in this message that you have received Jesus Christ as your Savior and made him your Lord. If you have not, please do that. The Bible says you’ve got to turn from your sin and turn to Jesus Christ as your Lord. That is the only way to God’s eternal (and abundant) life. So first, turn your life over to Jesus Christ – make him your Lord, and then immediately after that ask “How can I develop the kind of faith that truly changes my life? A faith that consistently chooses God over this world. A faith that actually impacts how I live every day.”
Well, we’ve reviewed some of the heroes of faith of the Old Testament. Let’s look at the twelve ordinary men Jesus used to change the world. The twelve Disciples were very ordinary – just like us!
Not one was a religious scholar. In fact, they were outsiders to the religious community. They were prone to mistakes, bad attitudes, and failures. Even Jesus himself said they were slow and spiritually dense. So, how was their faith elevated? Well, here’s a clue to our first step in elevating our faith.
Mark 3:14 (ESV)
14 And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him . . .
THAT is what transformed these twelve ordinary men. That is what (first and foremost) elevated their faith. They were WITH Jesus. Jesus didn’t pick them based on their human qualities. He picked them based on whether they would be with him and that is our first step to elevating our faith.
1). Meet Jesus Alone
You and I must be with Jesus. That is the quality Jesus looked for in his Disciples. Would they be with him? Would they follow him? Because Jesus knew if they would be with him their faith would grow to the point they could overcome anything, not because they were special, but because they were willing to set their lives aside to be with Jesus.
Can we do that today? Absolutely!
Do we do that today? Not many of us!
And then we hear people say, “Yeah I tried church – it didn’t really do anything for me…”
But Jesus didn’t say he appointed twelve to go to church. He appointed twelve to be with him. But we somehow translate that in our mind and say, “Yeah, I went to church and stuff.”
Listen please, church is good – keep coming. But do not confuse going to church and being with Jesus – because they are not the same thing. Being in church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than being in your garage makes you a car. Being with Jesus makes you a Christian. You have to actually spend time with him, and in our world, that always involves not spending time with something else.
And when I say step one is Meet Jesus Alone I mean we must develop one-on-one personal time with Jesus. It is the most powerful, life-changing part of our life with him. Being with Jesus is the foundation of all growth in the faith, and it is the one thing many Christians never do which is why many Christians never grow in their faith. God has made a way through his Word and by his Holy Spirit for us to spend personal, intimate, quality time – alone with him. And if we will, our faith will greatly increase, and if we won’t, our faith will probably never increase.
So, how do you go about meeting Jesus alone? First, the best way to learn how to meet Jesus alone is to find someone who’s already meeting Jesus alone and ask them to teach you how they go about it – that’s called discipleship, and it is always the best way.
But you will probably also start with some resources to guide your time alone with Jesus. But here is the number one priority when choosing resources. Only choose resources that help you spend time with Jesus 1). In his Word (Bible) and 2). In Prayer. Do not use resources that replace God’s Word or replace your own prayer. Use resources that guide you in God’s Word and prayer. Never replace God’s Word and your own prayer.
We have those resources here, or can guide you to them. For the church family here in Nuevo, you can get resources and guidance at the Discipleship Resource table. For the Word By Mail family, you can get resources and guidance at wordbymail.com. If you don’t see what you’re looking for there, just email us using the “contact” link.
I would suggest two specific Word By Mail series:
1). The Fundamentals
2). Abide
Both of those teachings are about this exact thing. You can listen online at wordbymail.com or you can listen on the wordbymail phone app. The important thing is to get some help in learning how to meet Jesus alone and then start doing it because your faith will never truly grow without it.
1). Meet Jesus Alone
2). Follow Jesus With Friends
The original twelve Disciples followed Jesus together. They helped each other along, they struggled together, they lived life together as they were all following Jesus and it should be no different for us today! We were made to follow Jesus together with friends and one of the easiest ways the enemy picks off new Christians is he gets them separated from other Christians and then easily takes them out exactly like a lion takes down one animal out of a herd. First, the lion separates just one (usually the weakest) and then he easily devours them which is just what 1 Peter 5 says.
1 Peter 5:8 (NLT)
8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
It’s most often the one who thinks they can follow Jesus alone that gets picked off by the enemy. We have to meet Jesus alone to grow in our faith but we have to follow Jesus with friends to not get devoured.
Consider the very beginning of the New Testament Church in Acts Chapter 2.
The Holy Spirit was poured out
120 Disciples began speaking in other languages
The people in Jerusalem freaked out
And Peter preached the first sermon of the New Testament church
And when Peter spoke, he spoke with incredible faith. Peter had had moments of faith and failure while he was walking with Jesus. But when the Power of the Holy Spirit was poured out on him in Acts Chapter 2. He never looked back and never slowed down.
Which does bring up a critical need for us… we must get to know the Person and purpose of the Holy Spirit. Do not allow yourself to continue to say, “I’m not really sure who that Holy Spirit guy is.” We have got to get to know WHO the Holy Spirit IS and what his role is in your life. We do also have a series called, “The Holy Spirit” which you can find at wordbymail.com or on the wordbymail pone app. I’d also suggest a great book on the Holy Spirit called “Forgotten God” by Francis Chan. Truth is, you can’t really follow Jesus without the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, all you have is religion. So make sure you get to know the role of the Holy Spirit.
Back in Acts Chapter 2, it was not only the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, it was also the grand opening of the New Testament Church. The word we translate “church” literally means “called out ones.” It’s those who’ve been “called out” to be God’s people and the New Testament is clear that we together ARE the Body of Christ. We are not individuals. We’ve been knit together AS the Body of Christ. We follow Jesus together.
Acts 2:42–47 (NLT)
42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals . . . and to prayer . . .
44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had . . .
46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity
47 . . . And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.
There’s a truth we see all through the Bible called “one-anothering.” God’s way for us to grow in the faith is with one another. To elevate our faith, we need one another. There are no solo missions in following Jesus which you’ll hear about in our Fundamentals series. You’ve got to connect yourself to a group of like-minded Christians, make them your friends, and then follow Jesus with them. And please don’t do that “cop-out” thing where you say, “Well, I attended that church for X amount of time, and no one even asked me to join them.” Don’t do that. YOU go join them. It is a matter of spiritual life and death. You have to make the effort in order to survive. Follow Jesus with friends.
1). Meet Jesus Alone
2). Follow Jesus With Friends
3). Know Jesus In Trials
Learning to know Jesus in the midst of your trials is the ultimate faith elevator. Knowing him intimately, right there in the fire, meeting him in the worst of your valleys, walking with him through your most difficult times. It’s here in the most difficult of times that we find out whether we really have true faith – or not.
Rick Warren, one of the most influential pastors in this country, tragically lost his son less than two months ago. He wrote on Twitter this week, “I have never felt closer to Christ, more loved by Christ, and more confident in Christ, than since my son’s tragic death.”
THAT is elevated faith… That is a faith that clings to Christ in the midst of the darkest trials in this life. Here’s the deal. True faith is never grown without refining fires and difficult trials.
It is impossible to find a hero of the faith in the Bible who avoided the tribulations and trials of this life. Why is it that we would think that we can elevate our faith without similar refining fires?
1 Peter 1:6–7 (NLT)
6 So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while.
7 These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
The enemy wants to use your trials to destroy your faith. God wants to use your trials to elevate your faith.
And what is your role in order to know Jesus IN your trials? In a nutshell, it’s to “run TO him, not AWAY from him.” But, it’s up to you! It’s all about which direction are you going to run when the trials come. You run away from God, the enemy wins. You run toward God you win. Don’t let the enemy use your trial to destroy your faith. Allow God to use your trial to elevate your faith.
This is another area that you really need a strong “discipler” in. When the heat turns up in your life, not only run to Jesus but run to mature Christians who can help carry you through. Mature Christians who’ve met Jesus in the fire themselves and get them to help you learn how to know Jesus in your trials.
We have a lot of teaching series that will help you in this area
Life of Joseph
Life of David
Nehemiah
If you will learn to know Jesus in your trials, I promise you, your trials will actually elevate your faith.
Guys, we live in a difficult (and spiritually dangerous) world. A world that can easily shatter a casual, shallow faith. Don’t go out like that! If you’ve made a commitment to follow Jesus, now make these commitments to elevate your faith.
Meet Jesus Alone
Follow Jesus With Friends
Know Jesus In Trials
If you will do these things, you will elevate your faith.
To trust God when we can’t see him
To know he’s at work when it doesn’t look like it
To follow Jesus when everything screams the opposite
Trust God.
Elevate your faith.
Hebrews 11:1 (NLT)
1 Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.
Faith is what moves us – it’s what drives us. It’s what keeps us clinging to God and allowing him to work in our lives, no matter what. Faith is a confident assurance in God based on a solid expectation that God is for us and that God is at work in our lives, and we need to elevate our faith in God. That true, unshakable, no matter what faith. A faith that sees God at work no matter what our physical eyes see. A faith that is confident in God no matter how circumstances appear.
We need a faith that conquers this world and its trials.
We need a faith that will stand up to the enemy’s schemes.
We need a faith that will truly transform our lives.
We need to elevate our faith until it impacts and changes how we see things, how we respond to things, and how we react to things. Do you agree?
Hebrews Chapter 11 is the “Hall of Fame of Faith.” I can’t read it all for you but I am going to skim through and paraphrase it for you.
Paraphrasing Hebrews 11
2 Faith is what distinguished the heroes of the Bible. It’s what set them above the crowd.
4 All the way back to Abel in Genesis Chapter 4. It was FAITH that made the difference between Abel and his brother CAIN (who killed him)
5 Enoch (Genesis 5) Because of his faith, skipped death completely. He walked with God and God just TOOK HIM home!
Hebrews 11:6 says it’s impossible to please God apart from faith. Because anyone who comes to God must believe Both that God Exists and that he Rewards those who come to him in Faith
7 By faith, Noah built a boat the size of the TITANIC on dry land even though He’d never even SEEN it rain. And His act of faith clearly separated the unbelieving world, from the few who DID believe.
8 By Faith Abraham Left his home to follow God having no idea where he was going.
9 he walked into a foreign land God had promised him, and just started living there - TRUSTING God’s promise to come to pass.
11 By faith, Abraham’s wife Sarah became pregnant, even though she was 90+ years old.
12 And by Abraham and Sarah’s FAITH God blessed the world through the people of Israel and specifically through Jesus Christ.
24 By faith, Moses refused the privileges of the Egyptian royal house.
25 and chose a hard life with God’s people rather than a soft life in the sin of the world.
26 Moses valued suffering with God’s people far greater than the world’s wealth because he was looking ahead into eternity anticipating God’s reward.
29 By faith, Israel walked through the Red Sea on dry ground.
30 and they marched around the walls of Jericho for seven days, until those walls FELL Down.
32 Gideon, Samson, David, Samuel, and the prophets.…
33 By faith, they toppled kingdoms, ruled with justice, they took hold of the promises of God. They shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the flames of fire and escaped death by the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight.
AND 35 says: (just as much) there were ALSO those HEROES of faith - who were tortured and refused to give in, preferring Eternal Life over THIS life
36 Others faced abuse and whips, chains, and dungeons.
37 Some were stoned to death, sawed in two, murdered in cold blood; some forced to wander the earth, homeless, friendless, powerless
Hebrews 11:38 says: it was ALL GOOD Because the world didn’t deserve them - anyway!
The heroes of faith had their eyes set on something far greater than this world. They were determined to gain something far more valuable than anything in this life.
Hebrews 11:13 says these heroes of faith did not receive their reward in this life or in this world. So often we think that heroes of the faith should have tangible evidence. Verses 36 and 37 lists those evidences. Those aren’t the rewards. When Paul says in Philippians 4:11-13 that whether I abound or abase, whether I have plenty or suffer need, I can do all things through Christ, he doesn’t mean he can win every football game if he prays. What he means is his circumstances don’t matter. It doesn’t matter if I’m on the top or on the bottom. It doesn’t matter if I have stuff in this world or if I’ve willingly thrown stuff away like Paul says in Philippians Chapter 3. It doesn’t matter because my eyes are set on something far greater, something eternal, an eternal reward, a heavenly city.
That’s what Abraham had his eyes set on. These heroes knew they were just “passing through” this life. Their focus was on their eternal life, on their eternal home, on their eternal reward, and that is what drove them. They had a passion and a focus and an all-in commitment not to gain the temporal pleasures of this life, but to be set in eternity, to be right in eternity, to long for that moment when they show up and Jesus says, “Welcome home! Welcome home my good and faithful servant. Well done!”
They lived totally focused on the eternal promises of God! And because of their focus, because of their commitment, because they changed the way they saw things, the way they felt, the way they responded, and the way they reacted, God did miraculous and wonderful things in them and through them. Because they joined God in God’s perspective that it’s really not about this temporal, pitiful, puny, ugly life. It’s about eternity! It’s about eternal life that you can live today! It’s about a relationship with God that you can have today! It’s about being the Temple of God that you can be today! It’s about experiencing God and seeing God move through you today in preparation for eternity! Do you see that faith is a matter of perspective?
God has great things in store for us but they are not about the sinful pleasures of this world. They’re about eternity.
Maybe you’ve heard some of those stories of the heroes of the Bible and of their incredible faith.
But… how about you? How about us today? How can we even begin to have this level of faith? Can we have this same level of faith that we can walk with God so much that the things of this world fade away? That we are so consumed with eternity that it actually impacts the way we live. You might say, that’s all Christians. But no, it’s not. Most Christians that I know are so consumed with this world, that it’s hard to get them to acknowledge that Jesus Christ actually died for them for eternity, for the heavenly world. God wants to see great faith in you, and it’s all about your perspective.
If we can lift our focus to the heavenly things, to our vertical relationship with God and our horizontal relationship with others, with doing everything unto the glory of God, then we’re still passing through this world. We’re still sojourning through this world. But we, like Paul says in Philippians Chapter 1, know where our citizenship is. Our citizenship is in heaven from where we wait for a Savior who’s going to show up any minute. And we’re getting through this world. There are some mountaintops and there are some valleys, but with Paul, we say we can get through all those circumstances because of Christ. It’s Christ in me that allows me to continue through whatever this life brings, good or bad. It’s Jesus Christ that does it! That’s faith.
How can we begin to elevate our faith in order to walk with God at a truly life-changing level? How do we believe God enough to have it change our lives? How do we make choices based on the presence of Jesus Christ in our lives? We have to ask ourselves, does my relationship with Jesus Christ really impact what I see, how I feel, how I respond, how I react? How can we begin to live as 2 Corinthians 5 says?
2 Corinthians 5:7 (ESV)
7 for we walk by faith, not by sight.
How do we get our faith to actually transform our lives? That is the question. Because far too many people say, “I need God to change my life” and they slip up their hand and repeat a prayer… and then wait for God to change their lives while they go on living the same way they were living before they received Christ. But we never see that in the Bible. John 3:16 is true. That whosoever believes HAS (present possession) eternal life. The word “believe” means to put your full faith and trust in Jesus Christ. What does that look like – repeating a prayer? No.
Putting your full faith and trust in Jesus Christ means it actually impacts some things in your life. You actually start making choices because of your full faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Yes, salvation is immediate. It is by faith alone, and it is permanent. However, it is not a mechanical repetition of some words that really didn’t even exist until the 1950’s. What we need is a full, all-in, no matter what commitment to Jesus Christ. Where we say, “Lord, what I see doesn’t matter – who you are matters. It’s not my circumstances I want fixed, Lord, it’s you, Jesus, I want you. I want to know you. I want to follow you. I want to experience your presence. That’s what I want.” And then you take that faith walk and you apply it to anything in your life. Whether abounding or abasing, whether having plenty or suffering need. It just doesn’t matter. You’re just saying “It’s about Jesus, no matter where I find myself.”
We never see a life changed without a full, all-in, no matter what commitment to God. The faith that will transform your life is a faith that draws closer and closer to God every day, no matter what. This faith impacts your life. It is a faith that is focused permanently on the Person of God and the rewards of eternity, not the fleeting pleasures of this world. THAT is the faith that transforms and THAT is the faith we need! Amen!
Now, I’m assuming in this message that you have received Jesus Christ as your Savior and made him your Lord. If you have not, please do that. The Bible says you’ve got to turn from your sin and turn to Jesus Christ as your Lord. That is the only way to God’s eternal (and abundant) life. So first, turn your life over to Jesus Christ – make him your Lord, and then immediately after that ask “How can I develop the kind of faith that truly changes my life? A faith that consistently chooses God over this world. A faith that actually impacts how I live every day.”
Well, we’ve reviewed some of the heroes of faith of the Old Testament. Let’s look at the twelve ordinary men Jesus used to change the world. The twelve Disciples were very ordinary – just like us!
Not one was a religious scholar. In fact, they were outsiders to the religious community. They were prone to mistakes, bad attitudes, and failures. Even Jesus himself said they were slow and spiritually dense. So, how was their faith elevated? Well, here’s a clue to our first step in elevating our faith.
Mark 3:14 (ESV)
14 And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him . . .
THAT is what transformed these twelve ordinary men. That is what (first and foremost) elevated their faith. They were WITH Jesus. Jesus didn’t pick them based on their human qualities. He picked them based on whether they would be with him and that is our first step to elevating our faith.
1). Meet Jesus Alone
You and I must be with Jesus. That is the quality Jesus looked for in his Disciples. Would they be with him? Would they follow him? Because Jesus knew if they would be with him their faith would grow to the point they could overcome anything, not because they were special, but because they were willing to set their lives aside to be with Jesus.
Can we do that today? Absolutely!
Do we do that today? Not many of us!
And then we hear people say, “Yeah I tried church – it didn’t really do anything for me…”
But Jesus didn’t say he appointed twelve to go to church. He appointed twelve to be with him. But we somehow translate that in our mind and say, “Yeah, I went to church and stuff.”
Listen please, church is good – keep coming. But do not confuse going to church and being with Jesus – because they are not the same thing. Being in church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than being in your garage makes you a car. Being with Jesus makes you a Christian. You have to actually spend time with him, and in our world, that always involves not spending time with something else.
And when I say step one is Meet Jesus Alone I mean we must develop one-on-one personal time with Jesus. It is the most powerful, life-changing part of our life with him. Being with Jesus is the foundation of all growth in the faith, and it is the one thing many Christians never do which is why many Christians never grow in their faith. God has made a way through his Word and by his Holy Spirit for us to spend personal, intimate, quality time – alone with him. And if we will, our faith will greatly increase, and if we won’t, our faith will probably never increase.
So, how do you go about meeting Jesus alone? First, the best way to learn how to meet Jesus alone is to find someone who’s already meeting Jesus alone and ask them to teach you how they go about it – that’s called discipleship, and it is always the best way.
But you will probably also start with some resources to guide your time alone with Jesus. But here is the number one priority when choosing resources. Only choose resources that help you spend time with Jesus 1). In his Word (Bible) and 2). In Prayer. Do not use resources that replace God’s Word or replace your own prayer. Use resources that guide you in God’s Word and prayer. Never replace God’s Word and your own prayer.
We have those resources here, or can guide you to them. For the church family here in Nuevo, you can get resources and guidance at the Discipleship Resource table. For the Word By Mail family, you can get resources and guidance at wordbymail.com. If you don’t see what you’re looking for there, just email us using the “contact” link.
I would suggest two specific Word By Mail series:
1). The Fundamentals
2). Abide
Both of those teachings are about this exact thing. You can listen online at wordbymail.com or you can listen on the wordbymail phone app. The important thing is to get some help in learning how to meet Jesus alone and then start doing it because your faith will never truly grow without it.
1). Meet Jesus Alone
2). Follow Jesus With Friends
The original twelve Disciples followed Jesus together. They helped each other along, they struggled together, they lived life together as they were all following Jesus and it should be no different for us today! We were made to follow Jesus together with friends and one of the easiest ways the enemy picks off new Christians is he gets them separated from other Christians and then easily takes them out exactly like a lion takes down one animal out of a herd. First, the lion separates just one (usually the weakest) and then he easily devours them which is just what 1 Peter 5 says.
1 Peter 5:8 (NLT)
8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
It’s most often the one who thinks they can follow Jesus alone that gets picked off by the enemy. We have to meet Jesus alone to grow in our faith but we have to follow Jesus with friends to not get devoured.
Consider the very beginning of the New Testament Church in Acts Chapter 2.
The Holy Spirit was poured out
120 Disciples began speaking in other languages
The people in Jerusalem freaked out
And Peter preached the first sermon of the New Testament church
And when Peter spoke, he spoke with incredible faith. Peter had had moments of faith and failure while he was walking with Jesus. But when the Power of the Holy Spirit was poured out on him in Acts Chapter 2. He never looked back and never slowed down.
Which does bring up a critical need for us… we must get to know the Person and purpose of the Holy Spirit. Do not allow yourself to continue to say, “I’m not really sure who that Holy Spirit guy is.” We have got to get to know WHO the Holy Spirit IS and what his role is in your life. We do also have a series called, “The Holy Spirit” which you can find at wordbymail.com or on the wordbymail pone app. I’d also suggest a great book on the Holy Spirit called “Forgotten God” by Francis Chan. Truth is, you can’t really follow Jesus without the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, all you have is religion. So make sure you get to know the role of the Holy Spirit.
Back in Acts Chapter 2, it was not only the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, it was also the grand opening of the New Testament Church. The word we translate “church” literally means “called out ones.” It’s those who’ve been “called out” to be God’s people and the New Testament is clear that we together ARE the Body of Christ. We are not individuals. We’ve been knit together AS the Body of Christ. We follow Jesus together.
Acts 2:42–47 (NLT)
42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals . . . and to prayer . . .
44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had . . .
46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity
47 . . . And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.
There’s a truth we see all through the Bible called “one-anothering.” God’s way for us to grow in the faith is with one another. To elevate our faith, we need one another. There are no solo missions in following Jesus which you’ll hear about in our Fundamentals series. You’ve got to connect yourself to a group of like-minded Christians, make them your friends, and then follow Jesus with them. And please don’t do that “cop-out” thing where you say, “Well, I attended that church for X amount of time, and no one even asked me to join them.” Don’t do that. YOU go join them. It is a matter of spiritual life and death. You have to make the effort in order to survive. Follow Jesus with friends.
1). Meet Jesus Alone
2). Follow Jesus With Friends
3). Know Jesus In Trials
Learning to know Jesus in the midst of your trials is the ultimate faith elevator. Knowing him intimately, right there in the fire, meeting him in the worst of your valleys, walking with him through your most difficult times. It’s here in the most difficult of times that we find out whether we really have true faith – or not.
Rick Warren, one of the most influential pastors in this country, tragically lost his son less than two months ago. He wrote on Twitter this week, “I have never felt closer to Christ, more loved by Christ, and more confident in Christ, than since my son’s tragic death.”
THAT is elevated faith… That is a faith that clings to Christ in the midst of the darkest trials in this life. Here’s the deal. True faith is never grown without refining fires and difficult trials.
It is impossible to find a hero of the faith in the Bible who avoided the tribulations and trials of this life. Why is it that we would think that we can elevate our faith without similar refining fires?
1 Peter 1:6–7 (NLT)
6 So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while.
7 These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
The enemy wants to use your trials to destroy your faith. God wants to use your trials to elevate your faith.
And what is your role in order to know Jesus IN your trials? In a nutshell, it’s to “run TO him, not AWAY from him.” But, it’s up to you! It’s all about which direction are you going to run when the trials come. You run away from God, the enemy wins. You run toward God you win. Don’t let the enemy use your trial to destroy your faith. Allow God to use your trial to elevate your faith.
This is another area that you really need a strong “discipler” in. When the heat turns up in your life, not only run to Jesus but run to mature Christians who can help carry you through. Mature Christians who’ve met Jesus in the fire themselves and get them to help you learn how to know Jesus in your trials.
We have a lot of teaching series that will help you in this area
Life of Joseph
Life of David
Nehemiah
If you will learn to know Jesus in your trials, I promise you, your trials will actually elevate your faith.
Guys, we live in a difficult (and spiritually dangerous) world. A world that can easily shatter a casual, shallow faith. Don’t go out like that! If you’ve made a commitment to follow Jesus, now make these commitments to elevate your faith.
Meet Jesus Alone
Follow Jesus With Friends
Know Jesus In Trials
If you will do these things, you will elevate your faith.
To trust God when we can’t see him
To know he’s at work when it doesn’t look like it
To follow Jesus when everything screams the opposite
Trust God.
Elevate your faith.