“Undergoing Construction: Build Your Faith! pt. 3”
Pastor Jim Lowe III
Sunday Morning, 9:30am Stream 09/15/24 (3rd Sunday Message)
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{All scriptures are NIV84 unless stated}
Message Title:
“Undergoing Construction: Build Your Faith! pt. 3”
Hebrews 11:1-2
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.
Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Being sure of the things we hope for.
This is what the ancients were commended for.
Those who came before...in the Bible and not...
Example of Faith:
Many of us came here today in a car. We have faith in those cars to turn on.
we have faith they will move when they should.
we ALSO have faith they will STOP when they’re supposed to. Have you ever been in a car that won’t stop when you press the brake?
We drive cars that are man made…
and have faith they will do what they’re supposed to.
Let’s get started with a statement from last week.
Faith Is Fully Trusting God When You Can’t See Everything!
We talked last week how our eyes can trick us.
Let’s talk about how to operate when we can’t fully see what’s happening.
2 Kings 6:8
8 Now the king of Aram was at war with Israel. After conferring with his officers, he said, “I will set up my camp in such and such a place.”
Aram was at war with Israel.
The king would come up with strategies to defeat Israel.
Verse 9-10
9 The man of God sent word to the king of Israel: “Beware of passing that place, because the Arameans are going down there.” 10 So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places.
Elisha would hear from God and tell Israel’s King. they are going to attack here.
be ready for this.
Time and time again Israel was ready when Aram would attack.
Verse 11
11 This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, “Will you not tell me which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?”
He is asking who is the one who is the spy?
Verse 12
12 “None of us, my lord the king,” said one of his officers, “but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.”
These men knew who was telling on them. It was Elisha…
The Lord tells him everything.
Including the words you speak in the bedroom.
He knows EXACTLY who is in your bedroom!
And he’s TELLING!
Verse 13-14
13 “Go, find out where he is,” the king ordered, “so I can send men and capture him.” The report came back: “He is in Dothan.” 14 Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city.
Understand how important it is to GET this guy!
They will NOT win this war as long as Elisha is talking to Israel’s king.
Verse 15
15 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh, my lord, what shall we do?” the servant asked.
Imagine being the servant.
You wake up and see an army flying the flag of Aram.
…surrounding the city.
looking at you.
Verse 16
16 “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
Question:
What Does Elisha Know That The Servant Doesn’t?
Verse 17
17 And Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
The enemy was surrounding the city. but what they didn’t know…
was the HILLS were surrounding them!
Question:
Could Elisha Actually See The Lord’s Army?
He asked that the servants eyes be opened. Could Elisha see them also?
We don’t know…
but even if he couldn’t…wouldn’t matter. He KNEW they were there.
he told Thomas:
…blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Even When You Can’t See It, The Lord Is Fighting For You!
Many times we allow ourselves to be distracted by the things we see. We see trial after trial.
We see bill after bill.
We see prices going up.
We see death and destruction…
We see all these things in the NATURAL.
Faith Building Scriptures:
2 Corinthians 4:7-9
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed;
perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
Proverbs 18:10
10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.
The servant couldn’t see what the Lord was really doing… but when you’re crazy enough to trust Him!
THAT’s what real safety is!
{Let’s look at another example:}
There was a war going on between the Philistines and Israel. They went to battle and both of them camped on opposite hills.
with a valley between them.
They were going to fight…
and one side had a secret weapon. an unfair advantage…
1 Samuel 17:4-7
4 A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. He was over nine feet tall. 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels; 6 on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. 7 His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer went ahead of him.
He was over 9 feet tall.
His armor weighed about 125 pounds.
The iron point of his spear weighted 15 pounds.
This was a BIG GUY.
Estimated at 9 feet.
Fighting Israel who averaged closer to 5 feet.
He TOWERED over them!
1 Samuel 17:8-11
8 Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a
man and have him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.” 10 Then the Philistine said, “This day I defy the ranks of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.” 11 On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.
Goliath tells Israel to pick a fighter.
Whoever wins will rule the other nation.
Verse 16 says for 40 days he’d do the same thing.
For 40 days he’d come out…
For 40 days everyone would run away.
Everyone was afraid of this guy…
But one side had a secret weapon. One day someone else was in the crowd.
A young boy named David.
Just so happened to be there this time.
1 Samuel 17:23-24
23 As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. 24 When the Israelites saw the man, they all ran from him in great fear.
David didn’t need 40 days to think about it. the FIRST day he heard it…
Verse 32
32 David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”
Saul told him you can’t fight him.
You’re a little boy. He’s a grown man.
But David had a statement of faith… what he built his faith on.
David’s Statement Of Faith:
Verse 34
34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”
He said in the past the Lord has kept him. kept him from a lion.
kept him from a bear.
when he SHOULD have died. and if the Lord has a habit of protecting him…
he can speak in faith.
Verse 37
37 The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”
Although he can’t SEE the future… he still knows what it is.
Some Of Us Need To Spend More Time Remembering What The Lord Has Already Done For Us!
We might be scared of things going on in life today. we allow those things to stress us.
we allow it to trouble us.
some of our blood pressure has been up for years.
Some of us have forgotten about the lions and bears the Lord has delivered us from!
Statement of Faith:
“If He Did It Before, He Can Do It Again!"
say that!
say it again!
Some of us need to look in a mirror and say that to ourselves till we get it.
God Didn’t Deliver You All Those Times Before So You Could Doubt Him Today! Believe He Can Do It!
Some of us need to get like a boy named David:
“The Lord who delivered me from all these things before will deliver me from this!”
Faith Is Knowing What Will Happen Even When You Can’t See It!
So David goes and gets 5 smooth stones. his staff
his sling
and goes to the battlefield to fight this Philistine
{Looking At Something interesting:}
Something subtle:
Let’s use the ESV and RECAP the story:
1 Samuel 17:1 (ESV)
4 And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath,
His name is: Goliath He is a: Philistine
Verse 8(a) (ESV)
8 He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine…
He is a: Philistine
Verse 10-11: (ESV)
10 And the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
He is a: Philistine
Who is: Goliath (not listed)
Verse 23: (ESV)
23 As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him.
He is a: Philistine His name is: Goliath Here’s the point:
Goliath is called “Goliath”: Twice (v. 4, v.23) Goliath is called “Philistine”: Seventeen Times
For the rest of this story…
he’s no longer known as Goliath.
he’s known as what he represents. something that comes against our God.
Our problems/obstacles have MANY names.
It could be multiple things coming against you. It might be many.
But at the end of the day…REGARDLESS of what it is.
It’s coming against a child of the King.
And David has now approached to fight. And what does this “problem” say?
1 Samuel 17:42-44 (NIV)
42 He looked David over and saw that he was only a boy, ruddy and handsome, and he despised him. 43 He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”
You know sometimes your problems want to threaten you. Sometimes the things you have going on in life try to intimidate you.
The people on your job want to keep you fearful.
That illness is trying to give you a not so favorable report.
But look at what that little boy says to the face of his problem.
1 Samuel 17:45-47
45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”
David looked at his problem in the eye.
“You don’t have the right weapons for this fight.” “You brought a knife to a GOD fight.”
This battle is already over…
God is going to hand you over to me.
and the WHOLE world will know there IS a God!
The Lord was going to use David to make a point to others!
Statement of Faith:
“The Lord Will Do Things Through Me That Will Bless Others!”
God can give you so much that you have overflow for others. God can give you so much peace you can share.
God can give you so much joy you can share.
God can give you so much possessions you can GIVE away with no worries to you!
Don’t Forget That You Have A God Who Fights For You!
Faith Building Scriptures:
Deuteronomy 20:4
4 For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.”
Psalm 118:6-7
6 The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? 7 The Lord is with me; he is my helper. I will look in triumph on my enemies.
This means you might not be able to see how things can work out… But you don’t need to “see” it work out.
Blessed are those who believe and haven’t seen it. Don’t trust your eyes so much!
God is working even when you can’t see it!
Stop Waiting On God To SHOW You He’s Working! Know He Is And It Will Work Out!
2 Corinthians 5:7
7 We live by faith, not by sight.
We live by what we know…not what we see.
Stop Allowing Your Problems To Trouble You! God’s Got You!
{in closing:}
If you are looking to build a better house of faith… you have to get rid of doubt.
Start TRUSTING more! What has the Lord told you?
Will he do it?
