Humphreys, David: Living a Life of Faith

Box for me, but I see you've designed a platform for big guys still. But I use a, I use, um, man, this is crazy. There you go. I use a computer anyway, so this is a handy place to have it. In fact, I've had to use my own projector, you know, they told me when I came, we got a brand new projector, latest technology, wouldn't switch on. So here we are, I'm improvising last minute, made me miss coffee, but you're worth it, and I'm glad to be here. Happy New Year first. This is twenty nineteen. Man, Bill Coffee and I never thought we'd live this long. Twenty nineteen. Happy New Year, and uh, it is true that the Savior leads us all the way. In fact, I was going to tell you the Lord will be with you this year, but I want to go further than that. You know, when Jesus ascended, the last thing he said almost was, surely I'm with you always, always to the very end of the age. So don't cut the Lord down to a year for eternity. In fact, beyond, don't think the Holy Spirit leaves you and abandons you at death if you're a believer. So that's the promise. What I want to talk about, because it is a new year, and I I've been thinking a lot about faith, I want to talk about living a life of faith, because, uh, in a way, I do feel the way the world's going on. What a world we live in. If we weren't believers with the promises of God, I think we'd be fearful rather than full of faith. It's a- and a new year is a bit like a leap of faith, and many people would see a big chasm below and problems, but hey, I want to encourage you this morning. I want to talk about faith and living a life of faith and all that, uh, well, not all, but some of the things the Bible, uh, teaches about that. Because life is full of challenges. Actually, I've come to you this morning, talk about challenges. It's not just your projector not working, you know, I made a snap decision in the summer to move house. Sold my big house, moved to a little bungalow condo in Mount Hope. What a great place to live, by the way, for a believer. I'm living on Mount Hope in a street to remind me that there's another side of thing. I live in Northern Breeze Street, Mount Hope. Can you imagine after fifty years gracing a nice house in Dundas? But it's been a challenge. In fact, I spent the last few weeks, uh, doing this, carrying boxes. Got tendonitis in both shoulders now. Uh, but Jane, who can't be with us this morning, pray for Jane. She's got a few health issues. Eye surgery went a bit, uh, wrong, and I got tendonitis. She's got neck and back issues. So, but we're not the point if it's not life-threatening, don't worry about it. But, uh, she's a great help. It's been a blessing, and I'm always the guy says, I've got it, I got it. We're in charge here, but things go wrong. I've had a few of those wow moments, wow, crash, and Jane, uh, of course, is wondering about me, all my bragging that I've got it all together, and I say don't stand there, give me a hand, and she does. Um, she gives me a hand. But it's to encourage, and actually that's what I want to do today. Things do go wrong. There are war moments in life, but our aim today is to encourage you. I want to tell you, whatever unexpected, and we live in a, in a world where it happens all the time, whatever unwelcome events happen. I know Jane's been through a horrendous amount of grief and loss and difficulty, uh, uh, but I- I've been praying with her and saying, whatever happens, we are called as believers to press on living, yes, in hope, living a life of faith, and that's what I want to talk about this morning. You know, I have a lot of memories. One of the problems with getting older is you tend to reminisce, and I, I was thinking as I meditated on that this week about a Christian friend of mine saying to me, we were praying together about a very serious problem, a child with leukemia. We were praying together, and he said to me, oh, I wish I had your faith. And at first I thought, well, he's wrong to say that because surely we, we all have the same faith. How I, I can't claim to be better in faith. But I recognized, um, when I was praying on my own and looking at the scriptures and reading about spiritual gifts in one Corinthians twelve, I recognized first, I did see that my faith was not as strong as he thought, but I realized his longing for more faith was a good aspiration. And I hope I'll stir up that longing in you this morning, because when you read the chapter on spiritual gifts, one Corinthians twelve, important chapter, I'm only speaking about faith this morning, but there's a lot to say, but it makes two points very clear. It makes, uh, very clearly the point that God does give some people special faith. Verse four, one Corinthians twelve, said, yes, there are varieties of gifts, all given by the same spirit, but when it comes to faith, in verse nine, Paul writes, to another faith, by the same spirit, to another faith. Like there's some distinctions there, and that's very important to to remember. Number one, God does give some people special faith, and number two, this gift of faith is not just to buoy us up personally and keep us optimistic when we listen to the news every night, but it's given to some, and maybe you should be praying about that, for the common good of all, because in verses six and seven of one Corinthians twelve, Paul says, yes, there are diversities of activities, different gifts, but it's the same God who works all, all in all, for the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all. And, and, and we're going to come back to that. It's a very important point. Um, uh, as we get into this, realize this, this gift of faith isn't just your blessing. Uh, uh, as you live in faith, it's going to affect this church, and it's going to affect a lot of people, and I want to talk about that. But let me j- just make one thing clear before we explore about the life of faith and all that involves for you if you're a Christian believer and you want to please God. I want to be clear that, that in this chapter, in what I'm saying today, Paul's not talking about saving faith. The faith that brings you new life in Christ, saving faith, that belongs to all true Christians. I'm not making any distinction. Two Peter one one, Peter writes, all believers have received a faith as precious as ours. The reality is we're not born naturally with saving faith. Saving faith, it's not a natural talent because it's like everything else to do with our salvation. It's God's wonderful gift of grace. People, people have all kinds of ideas how you can get to heaven and get saved by making efforts and having gifts and... but, but saving faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit given to those who are ready to respond to the call of God. And I hope everybody here this morning is, has responded to God's call and, and, and they have experienced God's saving grace. If you haven't, that's the thing you have to concentrate on most. You see, because we have a God, and let's be very clear on this. two Peter three nine, God's not willing that any should perish, but all come to repentance. The gospel is an offer to everybody. The only problem is God waits for our response, and scripture is clear. I mean, key chapters, all of you know, John three sixteen, John five twenty four, Ephesians two, they all teach that repentance and faith in Christ is what brings salvation. And that's so foundational, but it's saving faith. And, and look, you can't misunderstand verses like this. People, people seem to feel the gospel's complicated, but Jesus said, whoever, I mean, you can't misunderstand that word, believes in him has eternal life and shall not come into judgment and has passed from death to life. Now, that's a great promise. Don't, don't, don't neglect it. And saving faith brings you into that. You know, these, these well-known verses, I'm getting to the point where I read them and go, wow, I mean, wow. Don't think, oh, I know that verse. Say wow. I mean, that's an incredible verse. And the gift of faith that, that, that, that we're discussing then is not that saving faith, that's step one, but it's a spiritual gift. It's a spiritual gift, as one Corinthians twelve says, given to some individuals, and it's really a special gift of what, what Jesus called mountain-moving faith, which in the sovereignty of God is given to some, but it's for the blessing of the whole body, the church. It's not a private gift. Now, this doesn't mean, let me make it clear, there are believers with no faith. If you know the Lord and you've exercised saving faith, you, you have faith, but it's a matter of degree. Um, and, and there was nothing wrong with the aspiration of my friend who wished he had more faith because, well, you go back to one Corinthians twelve, it encourages us to desire the best spiritual gift. Nothing wrong with longing for the... Paul said, earnestly desire the best gifts, and I've got to tell you, faith's up there with the best gifts. It's right there, top of the list. And if you read your Bible, of course, if you doubt what I'm saying, there are many, many examples in the New Testament, particularly of people who had special faith. Lots of stories you can think of. Remember there was a Canaanite woman, a Gentile woman, Matthew fifteen, came with a child that needed healing, very thoughtful woman, but outside the Jewish community and a, and a Canaanite, and she showed great faith. And Jesus said to her, oh woman, great is your faith. Let it be as you desire. Jesus recognized the degree of her faith, and, and you see that, I mean, big names like Stephen, the first martyr, the the the great character in Acts six, What does it say of him? He was full of faith and the Holy Spirit. They always go together. Faith's a spiritual gift, full of faith and the Holy Fi- Spirit. Jesus frequently talked about this. I mean, he said to his disciples on more than one occasion, oh, oh, you have little faith. Remember in Matthew seven— yeah, uh, yeah, Matthew seventeen, there was another healing situation. There was an epileptic boy, J- they they they asked the disciples to do something about it and heal him, couldn't do anything, and Jesus came, and of course, uh, he healed the boy, but the disciples said, well, why couldn't we do it? And Jesus made it clear, well, it's it, your problem is a lack of faith. So, so it's very clear that the degree of our faith is variable, and it certainly affects the outcome of a lot of things. In fact, Jesus went so far as to say that you only need the faith the size of a mustard seed. Now, the reason he said that, mustard seeds are very small. In fact, I had one once. I can't find it. I d- I don't know where it is. It was in my pocket, but it's so small. I could spend half an hour looking, and I wouldn't know whether it was a bit of... Mustard seeds are small. But, uh, Jesus said, that's what you need. In Mark eleven again, there was that incident. There was a big fig tree with no figs in, and the Lord went to the disciples, and he said, well, you shouldn't bear any more fruit. Interesting thing in itself. I don't want to talk about that, except when the disciples went back, they were staggered. They were amazed that so quickly this, this tree had faded. Uh, and they asked the Lord about it, and he said this. He said, well, look, verse twenty two. he said, I have faith in God. And then he said, for assuredly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, be removed and be cast into the sea, and doesn't doubt in his heart but believes those things he says will be done, they'll have whatever they say. I mean, that's, that's an astounding promise. And there are several passages like this in the New Testament. I know you've all heard the stories of the woman who had the, the mountain outside her window, and she was really annoyed about this, so she, she decided to pray about it because she read this verse, but she got up in the morning and opened the curtain. She said, just as I thought, it's still there. She had no understanding that it could go. Now, what does it mean? Does it mean if you had a mountain in front of your window, you could get rid of it? No. Listen, prayer is not a magic formula. I mean, that allows some humans to take control of nature. Uh, you've got to, you think about this, even our perfect, glorious Lord Jesus, God manifest in a place. In the garden, we had it in the first service, wonderful thought. In the garden, the Lord prayed three times for the cup to pass from him. But of course, he was always ready to do his Father's will, and he accepted the fact that COVID didn't pass from him. He said, Lord, let this come. He didn't pass. Why? Well, praise God. Uh, our eter- you know, your salvation, your eternal redemption, your hope of heaven depends on really one word. When Jesus said, nevertheless, nevertheless, in that Gethsemane prayer, we had it this morning, not my will, but yours. That's a phrase you could do well to include in all your prayers. It's a safeguard from us thinking we can get everything we want just by praying about it. I mean, after all, look, many of you are parents here. What are you going to do with the kids when you go to the falls? You can't, but there are, there are kids here. Hey, listen, if you're a parent and, uh, this, uh, mushroom friend of mine, um, you know what thoughtful, loving parent would give children whatever they ask for, providing they believe it. If you believe it, you'll get it. Sometimes it works. Uh, Jane has some young grandchildren, so I'm discovering a childhood wonder again, and the six-year-old Jesse apparently had wanted a watch, so our daughter tipped Jane off, and of course, what nannas do, rushes to Walmart, buys a watch for this old guy. Um, and uh, his mother had said to him, well, you gotta believe to get a watch. I thought, well, be careful what you say. But he did get a watch, and it was wonderful to discover the childhood wonder. I mean, his eyes opened so wide, and he said to Jane, how did you know I wanted a watch? And then he said, it was just great to see this, he goes, all my life I have wanted a watch. Oh, six, all my life. Now, is prayer like that? You've wanted it, and you just believe, and you'll get it more. Let's not expect less than you would do as a parent from your loving father. We need to view a promise like this within its context and with balance. Don't drain it of its force, but you can't use it to conclude it means we always get precisely the answer we ask for. Remember, God's sovereign, and he always knows what's best for us. Remember that. So it's important to be clear about these promises, and very important to know where our faith must be directed. This is very important. What Jesus said is, have faith in God. You say, well, why would you need to say that? Listen, so many people today, you hear them on TV, uh, chapters full of books on this stuff that that you can have what you want if you only believe, because they have faith in faith. I'm not talking about faith in faith, I'm talking about faith in God. So this passage about mountain moving faith is not en- endorsing the the power of positive thinking and all that stuff, all that philosophy is so popular today. Positive thinkers believe that, that even they can even do things that seem impossible just because they believe it's the case. That's not what the Bible teaches. You see, our faith is in a sovereign God, and that sovereign God always remains free to do what he knows is best. And that's wonderful because that's why tiny mustard seed faith works. How could a little bit of faith do such wonderful things as the Lord promised? It's because it's faith in God. It's not faith in faith. You see, we have maybe small faith, but we have a big God, and that's the wonderful thing. And our part is to just remove all the obstacles. And that's why I stress that faith is a gift given for the good of all, because, because you have to have a clear and good relationship with God, not full, full of unconfessed sin and that stuff, and with your fellow believers. I know a chap who talked a great deal about his faith, but he was a pain in the neck in the church, always causing trouble. And they, they don't match. Uh, you see, living a life of faith depends on believing what God says and looking at the conditions, because the first thing I want to say is faith needs a promise on which to base our requests, and that you ask for. You think I believe in mountain moving faith, but nothing happened. Oh, no is an answer to prayer, by the way, but you may be hoping to receive something that God has not promised. You see, the life of faith is effective when you fully believe what God has actually promised. That's why you can be sure of salvation. Let me, let me tell you that, that we have faith in God because he's God and can't lie. There's your trivial pursuit question you kids should try, and your friends. Can God do everything? People say yes. No, God can't lie. He can't deny his nature. Numbers twenty three. very important statements about our God. He's not man, thankfully, that he should lie. We all know how common lying is in... in politics and everywhere. No, God's not man, not a son of man that he should repent. Has he said, and will he not do rhetorical questions? Has he spoken, and will he not make it good? Let's understand this, that God makes covenants, God makes promises, and sometimes they have conditions. You know, I moving, we had to get some new appliances, and I, boy, I got this shiny new stove, I said they're fantastic. Then I looked at the warranty, and the guy said, you know, terrific warranty, and there's all kinds of conditions. And I thought, but it's always the case, and you see, it it is true in the Bible. You think of, uh, Matthew seventeen twenty one when the disciples, uh, failed to heal that epileptic boy, and they said, why couldn't we do it? Jesus said, well, this requires prayer and fasting. Um, you see, our faith as Christians isn't blind faith. It's actually based on solid evidence, and it's based on real promises. One of the problems with the unbelieving world today is, uh, people like this atheist propagandist, well-known Professor Richard Dawkins from Oxford, England. He's a bit quieter these days because he's had some health issues, but he's been rushing around the world talking about Christian faith like it was blind faith. Dawkins says some stuff like, faith is a great cop-out, a great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate the evidence. He said faith, he says faith is believe in spite, belief in spite of even perhaps because of the lack of evidence. How far from the truth can you go? I mean, I spent my life as a scientist teaching at Mac, saying we have to look for evidence, whether it's scientific, and our faith rests on solid observational evidence. Maybe you don't know about all that fancy apologetics, but it's also based on personal experience. Everyone here, whatever their level of knowledge and education is, can can talk to people if they know Christ and say, let me tell you what Jesus has done for me. There's that aspect, that's evidence too. Unfortunately, many Christians, uh, with a weak understanding of the what the Bible really teaches, though, have been kind of exploited by prosperity preaching Christians who, who use the language of the gift of faith to promise material blessings. Of course, it's often a thinly veiled hunger for money to get material blessings, but send your donation in. But that kind of health and wealth gospel, you might call it, it's not the gospel at all, but it's not in the Bible. You see, we usually say that it's faith that makes our, our prayers effective, and it is true that, that we need to pray in faith, and if you pray, pray believing in God, amazing things will happen. I might have time to tell you about some things in my life. We'll see how it goes. I'm glad you told me it was quarter past. I was just about to panic. Um, today's verses emphasize something that's really the other way around. It's prayer that makes our faith effective. Think about that. So don't forget that the, the warning in one Corinthians twelve about why faith may not lead to answers in prayer. It says very clearly, if I have faith to move mountains, so you got it, but I have not love, it's nothing. That's why being in the church and loving the Father and helping people is important. It's important to realize the context of exercising the gift of faith is spelled out in, in First Corinthians. The exercise of the gift of faith is not just for you and me, it's about the whole body. Sometimes think, people think everything in the Bible is about us personally, but I gotta tell you, I found this old picture of a, of a TV show I watched with my kids many years ago, but there's no place for a Lone Ranger Christian in the local church. Uh, it's so important to focus on how much your faith is benefiting others, including those in your local church. And I, I want to keep it in that context. That's why in one Corinthians twelve twenty five it talks about the importance of having the right relationship with God if you're going to have your prayers answered, but also with your fellow believers when you pray. So that Paul writes, so there should be no division in the body. Its parts have to have equal concern for each. So churches that are disunited and squabbling and wondering why things don't happen should read the Bible. It's all explained, and you can't expect mountains to be moved if you ignore the Lord's emphasis on unity in the body as one examples. Because these gifts aren't just given as toys to, to play around with. No, the gift of faith is a tool, and it's to accomplish something, not only in your personal life, but in the life of the local church. So living the life of faith is for the benefit of the whole community, because in the body and the church, uh, of the Lord Jesus is called as an analogy the body in the New Testament, it matters how we exercise our gift of faith. So living a life of faith is not just for your own blessing, it can benefit others in many ways, and I just want to say briefly something about three of those ways in which living a life of, uh, faith is a tremendous blessing, not only to you, but to others. Take, for example, Paul. Now, Paul's a big example in the church, but you know when he wrote to the church of Rome, he opened his letter in Romans one, when we get to verse eleven and twelve, saying, I'm longing to see you that I might be encouraged. And that drew me to the realization that a person of faith encourages others. That's why my message today, uh, was to encourage you, because what Paul said in the verse that I mentioned is, I long to see you, so I may impart some spiritual gift to you. Paul's mi- ministry was incredible in giving to the church, but he said, so that we may mutually encourage each other, or that we may mutually encourage by each other's faith. It's an important reason for Paul going to them for mutual encouragement, and I, I read that and I thought, if the Apostle Paul was greatly encouraged by other believers showing faith, how much more do we need it? And i- if you're going to live a life of faith, it will greatly encourage others, and that's the value of giving testimony. That's why I said, tell people what Jesus has done for you. Uh, you know, as I get older, I tend to, um, and I'll, I'll change horses for a few minutes and, and say a couple of personal things to encourage you because, well, we need to do that. But see, when I was in my twenties, just graduated, I kind of was a mediocre believer, I guess, and and I really didn't believe what I'm preaching to you now, that that that that miracles can come through faith. But I read a, uh, um, a biography of a guy called George Müller. Many of you have know about George Müller with your background, but he was a man who lived a remarkable life of faith, and he founded an orphanage in Bristol, England, uh, and he ran this whole thing by faith, but it was reading that book that convinced me as a young man that faith can and does bring about miracles today. This guy, George Müller, uh, he clothed, sheltered, and educated ten thousand orphans, and this is British days in in the old money, without asking for a shilling. In other words, he did it all by faith, not asking for donations, et cetera, et cetera. But there are a couple of things he said. He said, be assured if you walk with Jesus and look to him and expect help from him, he'll never fail you. Now that biography proved that. And he was one of those guys, and remember this, if you're a worrywart, faith ends where worry begins, and worry ends where faith begins. A couple of nice, nice quotes from George Müller. Uh, but then it's when I began to think about seeking the gift of faith. Not that I wanted to be able to go around like a George Müller, because remember, you can't boast about a gift. You can't go around saying a gift's a gift. And because the gift of faith, it's really, it's not ours to take, it's God's to give. I realized that it would be right and appropriate, according to one Corinthians twelve and other scriptures, to ask for this gift. So as a young person, actually I was very fortunate to be in a home where my father told stories about miraculous things that God had done in his life through prayer, incredible things. What I'm trying to tell you them, but but I like to follow his example and and tell stories about the way God has answered my prayer. Not because of boasting, just just to give glory to God, you see. And it's not just because I'm an old man who likes to tell war stories, and my my my grandchildren are fed up with me repeating stories, so now they go, how many times? Ten. You've told that ten times, Granddad. But I have been telling him. You see, I just sold my house. Uh, and uh, these little things require faith, and a a few a few weeks ago, when I was praying about the sale of the house, I found myself retelling my grandchildren about selling my house when I came to Canada, about selling a house when my father died, uh, and saying, you know, God's a great real estate agent. Well, let me just tell you very quickly about this, because I felt that we should move to this bungalow condo, but I'm not a rich man, and I thought, well, I'll have to sell my house first, but I felt it was the Lord's will, so I just made a non-conditional offer and said, okay, Lord, do it again. Because listen, when I was coming to Canada in nineteen sixty five, before most of you were born, well, a few of you may be, uh, to teach at McMaster, I wanted to go. I got this nice offer, but I wanted to do the Lord's will. I'd only lived in the house about eighteen months, maybe two years, and it was a real fixer upper, but I bought it through a Christian real estate guy. Then I got this offer from McMaster. I was saying to Vivian, hey, we're gonna go to Canada. She said, have you prayed about it? I said, no, no, I better do that. And I did. And one night I, I prayed, Lord, just stop me going if it's not your will. Lord, put the barriers up. Lord, just, you know me, I'll go. Just, just do it for me, Lord. The next day I'm walking into town in, in London, England, and I bump into this real estate guy. And this is February. Vivian was expecting Adrian and, uh, wanted to have the baby at home, English style. And, uh, February, and the job offer was, of course, for July or August. I bumped into this guy, and he said, if you ever want to sell your house, let me know. You know, he's always looking for business. I said, well, there's a chance this summer I might move to Canada. I- if anything happens, I'll let you know. The next day he's at my door with a guy. I mean, this, I s- he said, this guy wants to look at your house. I said, well, it's not for sale. Why? He said, let him have a look anyway, he's interested. No, this is a fixer upper, semi-detached, and and uh, I said, well, come in, but uh, it's it's not for sale. So he looks around. Oh, he said, it's just what I want. I said, well, it's crazy. If it was for sale, I'd have to get my asking price. Remember, I had a ninety percent mortgage and ten percent loan from an elder in the assembly, so I had a hundred percent loan on this thing. I said, I'd have to get my asking price because I believe in the country. Oh, he said, I'll give you your asking price. I said, well, don't even think about that. It's not till next summer. I don't want it till next summer. Uh, and uh, I said, well, because things are always falling through those days in England, it was a crazy system. Uh, it wasn't like here, you know, they could drop out at the last second. I said, well, yeah, I said I'd have to, I'm, I believe in the country, I'd have to be sure of the financing. Oh, he said, I'm sure of the financing. My father now is chairman of the building. I have the money. I thought, I just asked the Lord to stop me. So I said, sold. Done. We didn't have to do any decorating. Vivian and the baby at home. We let everybody in. The wallpaper's peeling off the wall, but who cares? We've sold it. I tell you another quickie, because God is so on. When my father died unexpectedly in England, I flew over, I only had a few days, and I had a brother there, and uh, I went to his little uh flat, as they they called it, apartment there that he bought. Arrived on a weekend, and I s- got uh my daughter and wife came over, and it was all um unexpected event, and I said, we're doing nothing till I've been out Monday morning and talked to the pastor about his funeral. I left the, uh, flat Monday morning, and my brother left everything to me. I was only there. As I came out, he said, um, I'm very sorry, I hear this gentleman's died and we're interested. Any chance I could look at the, the flat? Oh, I said, well, it was my father, sure. I said, in fact, my brother's up there, come on. I said, my brother's Brian Humphries, and I noticed he had a Gideon patch on. Oh, I said, you're a Gideon, you're a believer. He said, yes. Oh, I said, yeah, Brian's working with Fact and Faith for me. He said, I know him. Oh, I said, well, come up. He came upstairs, he's a guy my age, I mean, he's an old fella, and he said, listen. He pulls out a tape measure, he looks lovingly at his wife, and he said, if the double bed will fit, we'll have it. Measures up, he comes, it'll fit. Oh, I said, well, that's great. He said, but I'm not very good at bargaining, he said, but I sold my house and knocked a thousand pound off the price. And uh, oh, I said, well, I'll knock a thousand pound off the price then, because my brother had valued it, I knew what it was worth. I said, done. Well, the, the, the warden of this place, as they call him, was coming up saying, this guy won't have a clue what to do because he's from Canada. She's coming up. And I said, we just, uh, sold it. She said, sold it? They're very hard to sell, these places, for long story reasons. So then this guy said, well, should pray. I said, well, should pray. So we had a word of prayer, and his wife said, now I know the Lord's in it. And I walked off. Rains the funeral. I was home in three days, everything done. Now, when it, why do I tell you those stories, and I shouldn't have taken so much time, but it's because when I put an unconditional offer in because I was sure of the Lord's will, I didn't worry about it. It was the last day before I had to go to the bank and plead when someone came and bought a house. But you see, it's just that God's faithful, and we need to give testimony to that, especially you older brothers and sisters. Now, this has ruined my talk because I want to get into the three other things that a life of faith can do. A person living a life of faith recognizes when God is at work by seeing the way he works in the life of others. I think that's very important. That's why I tell testimony. You know, let me tell you a lovely Bible incident. Acts eleven, Barnabas, a great example of this. The gospel has been spread, of course, to Jews only. The first Christians were all Jewish, but by verse twenty of Acts eleven, it says that some went to Antioch and began to witness to the Greeks, and many Gentiles turned to the Lord. Gentiles are getting converted. And when the leaders of the church in Jerusalem heard about this new development, they didn't know what to do about it, so they said, let's send Barnabas to Antioch to investigate this. He'll tell us what's going on. So he went. Now, you know that story, maybe. Why Barnabas? This is what I want to say. Why Barnabas? He's described in verse twenty four as a good man full of the Holy Spirit and faith. Again, the Holy Spirit and faith go together. And as a man full of faith, Barnabas went there and immediately recognized the evidence of the grace of God at work among the Gentiles. You see, people living a life of faith are always ready and happy to see God at work with all kinds of groups in other places. Now, that doesn't mean you're gullible and say, oh, that's great to hear that. I mean, you don't accept every new thing as a work of God without checking it out. When that airport vineyard stuff was all the rage, I went to check it out. It sounded great, God's doing, and there were things that I knew were wrong when I got there. But you see, if you have the gift of faith, you will be open and ready to recognize a genuine work of God, even- even if it's new, even if it's unlikely, even if it challenges your assumptions because it's not what you expected God to do. You see, faith works by love, and faith works in God's time, and we've got to believe that God will work in other lives as well, and and it's a mark of a person of faith. I want to say this, they're able to recognize when God is at work. I say this because I hear brethren criticizing this work and that, but you should always be happy to see the blessing the Lord brings to the work of others. It's great to see blessing here, you know, it's a bigger congregation than it used to be, but God's at work in many places. Now, the other thing I just want to say, number three quickly, is a person of faith, and this is great. This is, this is a fantastic truth. A person of faith helps bring about God's purposes. You know Hebrews eleven, the great chapter on faith. It has a great example of this, a great reminder that God generously gave the gift of faith even to people in the Old Testament. And a great example I want to give you is in verse ten, eight, nine, and ten, Abraham and Sarah. It's a new year, who knows what the future holds. You read in verse eight of Hebrews eleven, Abraham went not knowing where he was going. Abraham went not knowing where he was going. Uh, and verse ten, I think it is, uh, Abraham, he did this, it said, because he confidently waited for God to bring him to a strong heavenly city whose designer and builder is God. He had long-term faith, but listen, especially for the sisters, let me say Sarah too had faith. And what I like about this story is this couple, a couple that had faith, and because of this, talk about bringing about God's purposes, she was able to become a mother in spite of her old age, because she realized that God, who gave her this promise of having a child when it seemed so unlikely, would certainly do what he said. And a whole nation came from Abraham. They were too old to to have even one child. And Hebrews eleven eleven says about Sarah, she considered him faithful who had promised. And that's exactly what a person living a life of faith does. As you go into this year, consider him faithful who has promised, and that's what God calls you to do. The parallel acts of faith of Abraham and Sarah were based, well, they were based on promises going back to Genesis seventeen and eighteen. Remember, God had required them to trust he could even bring life out of death. Remember when Abraham was off for Isaac, he believed that God would raise him from the dead. Now that's faith. And through their faith and through their unity of purpose as a couple, God was able to use Abraham and Sarah to bring about his grand plan of salvation, wi- which of course culminated in the miraculous birth and death and life and resurrection of our Savior, the Lord Jesus. And the author of Hebrews makes it clear that it was Sarah's faith that was behind God's actions. That's astounding, and it's a great example and a strong encouragement for us to persevere in faith. We do it because God's faithful, but secondly, we do it because nothing's impossible for God to accomplish if it's his will. And it's such a down to earth example, man, longing for a child when you're infertile, that's a, a human problem. And this example reminds us that, that God's absolutely reliable, but he fulfills his purpose through our faith. It reminds us, look what it said in scripture about that. Well, no, this isn't a verse of scripture, but it's a important reminder. Even though neither Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, or Jacob would inherit the promised land of Canaan in their lifetime, verse thirteen makes that clear. They wouldn't see the multitude of descendants, which the Bible says were as numerous as the stars, but it all happened. Now, the reason I'm telling you this is faith requires you to look with an eternal perspective. You think, well, will we make it through the year? Faith requires you to look way beyond that and believe that even after your death, God will continue to answer your prayers. Prayers made in faith when you were living on earth. I, you may not live to see those wayward grandchildren walking with Jesus. Jane has two grandchildren are out west. We have no idea where they are or what they're doing, but they're completely away from all that we believe. But we continue daily to pray for them, using the gift of faith, and continue to believe that it will happen because God's faithful. I want to tell you, man, it's happened. The time's gone. I could tell you stories, but listen, let me conclude. The gift of faith is a special gift whereby the Spirit provides Christians with extraordinary confidence in God's promises, in his power, and in his presence. And if you're attempting to go into this year without faith, you you're going to be like an army that's trying to take on enemy territory, but they've no weapons. This is your weapon. So what are you to do? I got to finish. Let's obey the command of scripture and earnestly ask the Lord for the faith that we lack, and let's latch on to God's promise because God's generous, and he stands ready to give us all we need to enable us to serve him effectively. This is the last verse. Time is gone, but listen. 2 Corinthians 9:8, New Living Translation. God will generously provide all you need, and then you'll always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. That's what I call the promise. Oh yes, there will be obstacles in the way. The devil is ready to oppose your efforts to do something outstanding for Jesus. Absolutely. That's why you need to ask God for the gift he's given the church, faith that allows you to do more than try to climb mountain. I got to tell you, to actually throw those mountains into the sea, you've got to seek and use the wonderful gift of faith. I've got a dilemma, brother. Can I have a verse of a hymn, or do you want me to give a benediction? Up to you. All right, we're going to sing a verse, three fifty five, because this is my message. Trusting Jesus, trusting, simply trust. Let's sing first and last, three fifty five. No, two, yeah, three fifty five. Thank you, brother, I should have warned you. You're a great man after time, still responding. Three fifty five, first and last, trusting Jesus, that's all. That's my message for today. You can remain seated, and let's sing this, uh, with, um, a real dedication to do it. Now, if you fell asleep in my talk, I understand, but you've got it. Trusting Jesus, that's all. Father, help us to do it, we pray. We thank you for your faithfulness. May we grasp it and believe it and walk this year trusting you. And we pray for your blessing on this congregation and that fruit will come from your word, and we pray this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.