1 Kings 17: 8-24
8 The Lord told Elijah, 9 "Go to the town of Zarephath in Sidon and live there. I’ve told a widow in that town to give you food." 10 When Elijah came near the town gate of Zarephath, he saw a widow gathering sticks for a fire. "Would you please bring me a cup of water?" he asked. 11 As she left to get it, he asked, "Would you also please bring me a piece of bread?" 12 The widow answered, "In the name of the living Lord your God, I swear that I don’t have any bread. All I have is a handful of flour and a little olive oil. I’m on my way home now with these few sticks to cook what I have for my son and me. After that, we will starve to death." 13 Elijah said, "Everything will be fine. Do what you said. Go home and fix something for you and your son. But first, please make a small piece of bread and bring it to me. 14 The Lord God of Israel has promised that your jar of flour won’t run out and your bottle of oil won’t dry up before he sends rain for the crops." 15 The widow went home and did exactly what Elijah had told her. She and Elijah and her family had enough food for a long time. 16 The Lord kept the promise that his prophet Elijah had made, and she did not run out of flour or oil. 17 Several days later, the son of the woman who owned the house got sick, and he kept getting worse, until finally he died. 18 The woman shouted at Elijah, "What have I done to you? I thought you were God’s prophet. Did you come here to cause the death of my son as a reminder that I’ve sinned against God?" 19 "Bring me your son," Elijah said. Then he took the boy from her arms and carried him upstairs to the room where he was staying. Elijah laid the boy on his bed 20 and prayed, "Lord God, why did you do such a terrible thing to this woman? She’s letting me stay here, and now you’ve let her son die." 21 Elijah stretched himself out over the boy three times, while praying, "Lord God, bring this boy back to life!" 22 The Lord answered Elijah’s prayer, and the boy started breathing again. 23 Elijah picked him up and carried him downstairs. He gave the boy to his mother and said, "Look, your son is alive." 24 "You are God’s prophet!" the woman replied. "Now I know that you really do speak for the Lord." (CEV)
Hebrews 11
Faith makes
us sure of what we hope for and gives us proof of what we cannot
see. 2 It was their faith that made our ancestors pleasing to
God. 3 Because of our faith, we know that the world was made at
God’s command. We also know that what can be seen was made
out of what cannot be seen. 4 Because Abel had faith, he offered
God a better sacrifice than Cain did. God was pleased with him
and his gift, and even though Abel is now dead, his faith still
speaks for him. 5 Enoch had faith and did not die. He pleased
God, and God took him up to heaven. That’s why his body was
never found. 6 But without faith no one can please God. We must
believe that God is real and that he rewards everyone who searches
for him. 7 Because Noah had faith, he was warned about something
that had not yet happened. He obeyed and built a boat that saved
him and his family. In this way the people of the world were judged,
and Noah was given the blessings that come to everyone who pleases
God. 8 Abraham had faith and obeyed God. He was told to go to
the land that God had said would be his, and he left for a country
he had never seen. 9 Because Abraham had faith, he lived as a
stranger in the promised land. He lived there in a tent, and so
did Isaac and Jacob, who were later given the same promise. 10
Abraham did this, because he was waiting for the eternal city
that God had planned and built. 11 Even when Sarah was too old
to have children, she had faith that God would do what he had
promised, and she had a son. 12 Her husband Abraham was almost
dead, but he became the ancestor of many people. In fact, there
are as many of them as there are stars in the sky or grains of
sand along the beach. 13 Every one of those people died. But they
still had faith, even though they had not received what they had
been promised. 32 What else can I say? There isn’t enough
time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel,
and the prophets. 33 Their faith helped them conquer kingdoms,
and because they did right, God made promises to them. They closed
the jaws of lions 34 and put out raging fires and escaped from
the swords of their enemies. Although they were weak, they were
given the strength and power to chase foreign armies away……………………..
35 Some women received their loved ones back from death. Many
of these people were tortured, but they refused to be released.
They were sure that they would get a better reward when the dead
are raised to life. 36 Others were made fun of and beaten with
whips, and some were chained in jail. 37 Still others were stoned
to death or sawed in two or killed with swords. Some had nothing
but sheep skins or goat skins to wear. They were poor, mistreated,
and tortured. 38 The world did not deserve these good people,
who had to wander in deserts and on mountains and had to live
in caves and holes in the ground 39 All of them pleased God because
of their faith! But still they died without being given what had
been promised. 40 This was because God had something better in
store for us. And he did not want them to reach the goal of their
faith without us. (CEV)
We’ve had two readings that talk about faith. That tremendous story from 1Kings about the prophet Elijah, who not only showed faith in God’s provision for the basic essentials of life but also faith in the ability of God’s power working through him to breath life into a young and precious son. And then there’s that whole list of faithful people that we’re given in the letter to the Hebrew Christians.
You want to know about faith, says the writer, then how about these for starters. And then he follows it with that amazing statement that these folk all died without seeing the fulfilment of their faith, for the simple reason that God wanted them to enjoy the same benefits of his love and Grace as we would. That all God’s saints through the ages would one day rejoice together in the fulfilment of all things and all time
40 This was because God had something better in store for us. And he did not want them to reach the goal of their faith without us’
When we read about the faith of Elijah, of Abraham, Moses, David, Gideon, Sarah and the like what does it do to you? Can you empathise with these great people of God? Could you put yourself in the place of Abraham’s elderly wife Sarah wanting a son and being told that it would happen despite the chances of a natural conception being impossible. How would your faith cope with that news?
Could you put yourself in the place of Noah, told to build a boat on the top of a hill in an area that gets hardly any rain. What would you have done when the locals started staring and saying things behind your back?
Could you put yourself in the place of Stephen, stoned to death for his faith and yet to the last proclaiming the greatness of his God? Would you have let it get that far? Would there have even been enough evidence to convict you?
Could you put yourself in the place of Elijah telling the widow to use up all the meagre ingredients in her larder to make him something to eat, on the basis that God would provide her with an abundance of flour and oil. Or even put yourself in the place of the widow, asked to share the last bit of food she had in the house. Or what about that awful moment when the young son seems to have died and Elijah is blamed. How would your faith have fared then?
Faith in one sense can be an odd concept, in that most people have faith in something. We probably have faith in ‘British Justice’, a ‘sense of fair play’ in a game. Many folk have faith in their abilities to accomplish a task or even to direct their lives in the direction they feel it should go.
And of course there’s nothing wrong with that. To live lives without such a faith can easily lead to emptiness and depression. The downside of course is that this type of faith can easily be knocked or ignored until it matters. More importantly it has its centre well and truly on the here and now and on self.
Of course that’s where we have to draw the line and say that such a faith is limited, whereas Christian faith is limitless. It is limitless because as the writer to the Hebrews says quite plainly it has its focus as much on what will be as what is. Christian faith has its eyes set not on now but on eternity, its focus not on self but on God.
Have you ever had your faith challenged? Has anyone actually questioned you about what you believe and why you believe? It’s not something that happens very often to most Christians and to some extent it’s a shame.
I did a course on personal evangelism some years ago, and before they set you loose on real people you were forced to look to your heart and actually ask pertinent questions - about sin, repentance, forgiveness, Grace and Salvation, about where I was in my walk with God. Was I sure of what I believed and why I believed it? Self-questioning like that is very useful insofar as it puts you on your guard against the time that someone asks you to justify your faith.
John 5: 24 says I tell you for certain that everyone who hears my message and has faith in the one who sent me has eternal life and will never be condemned. They have already gone from death to life. 25 I tell you for certain that the time will come, and it is already here, when all of the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen to it will live!
It’s Jesus’ words that are recorded here. ‘I tell you for certain that everyone who hears my message and has faith in the one who sent me has eternal life’ Does that ring true? If not, why not? Did Jesus really mean that promise of eternal life to all that believe, or was he mis-quoted. If you believe that, then how can we believe any of his other words?
John 6:40 Jesus’ words again ‘My Father wants everyone who sees the Son to have faith in him and to have eternal life. Then I will raise them to life on the last day.’
John 11:25 ‘Jesus then said, "I am the one who raises the dead to life! Everyone who has faith in me will live, even if they die. 26 And everyone who lives because of faith in me will never really die. Do you believe this?"
Jesus asked the question of Martha, but it’s one we do need to ask ourselves now and again. We may say that we have faith, but in what or who do we have that faith? And just as importantly what difference does that faith have on our outlook on life and death?
In the Old Testament the people of God had faith and hope in a God who would provide for their everyday physical needs - just like Elijah was sure that God would honour the widow’s generosity. They had faith in a God who would lead them to the promised land; protect them; offer justice to good and bad alike; be a source of comfort and strength for them in times of trouble (read Psalm 23).
They had faith that their God would lead them to victory against the enemies that surrounded them and would lead them from the bondage of captivity when they were in exile. They also had faith that He would send them the Messiah of which the prophets had foretold.
It was quite a faith but easily knocked and forgotten, as you soon find out if you follow the history of God’s dealings with his people through the pages of the Old Testament. It didn’t take much persuading for the people of God to start worshipping other gods when the going got tough, or things didn’t seem to be going their way.
I have a feeling that a lot of folk who are regular worshippers today still have this same Old Testament faith - a simple faith in a God who provides for daily needs, offers comfort through His Word, protects and loves His people.
A faith such as this, although solid is also a faith that is lacking, for it has its eyes on the day to day and not on eternity. Its centre is elsewhere than Jesus on the cross and His promise of eternal life and the power of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers.
Listen to Paul speaking to the Ephesians ‘18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the wonderful future he has promised to those he called. I want you to realise what a rich and glorious inheritance he has given to his people. 19 I pray that you will begin to understand the incredible greatness of his power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honour at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.’
Through the pages of the New Testament we find the faith of believers is still grounded in the faith of Abraham, David, Moses and all those other faithful saints, but it is now empowered and made alive through Jesus Christ and the cross.
God is now seen to provide not only for our physical but our spiritual needs - food and water (the basics of life) become spiritual food and the water of life; freedom from bondage becomes freedom from the bondage of sin, and hope for the Promised Land becomes hope in eternal life.
And the benefits of such a faith are plain to see says Paul ‘3 How we praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we belong to Christ’’ 4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so very much, 5 that even while we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s special favour that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ, and we are seated with him in the heavenly realms—all because we are one with Christ Jesus. 7 And so God can always point to us as examples of the incredible wealth of his favour and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us through Christ Jesus.8 God saved you by his special favour when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.’
When we question ourselves about our faith can we say ‘Amen’ to that?
And Scripture is very clear about the difference that a ‘New Testament’ faith (if you want to call it that) can have on a life.
5) Confidence: 1 Samuel 37 The Lord has rescued me from the claws of lions and bears, and he will keep me safe from the hands of this Philistine.
"All right," Saul answered, "go ahead and fight him. And I hope the Lord will help you."38 Saul had his own military clothes and armour put on David, and he gave David a bronze helmet to wear. 39 David strapped on a sword and tried to walk around, but he was not used to wearing those things.
"I can’t move with all this stuff on," David said. "I’m just not used to it."
David took off the armour 40 and picked up his shepherd’s stick. He went out to a stream and picked up five smooth rocks and put them in his leather bag. Then with his sling in his hand, he went straight toward Goliath.
In our walk with God we need to be sure of our faith. We need to be sure in whom we are putting our trust and confidence. We need to be sure in our own minds why we believe, and where our faith has difficulties. We need to be honest with ourselves, and where there are doubts these need addressing.
We need that same assurance that enabled Job, after all that he’d been through to say with such fantastic confidence Job 19: ‘25 "But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that he will stand upon the earth at last. 26 And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! 27 I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought
In our walk of faith we need to be sure in whom we have faith, and why. There will come a time when our faith will be tested, if it hasn’t already happened. Hopefully it won’t be as hard a time as poor old Job faced, it might just be a friend or neighbour saying to you ‘You don’t believe all that religious nonsense, do you?’
Is your faith strong enough to say ‘Yes’ and explain why?
It’s not as easy as you might think, but your answer might make all the difference to the person who asked the question. If Elijah’s faith hadn’t shone through his life and words, the widow might have thought twice about giving him all that she had to eat. If Abraham’s faith had not been strong, his family might have up-sticks and moved off into an uncertain future rather than the Promised Land.
Have faith in God. Look to his promises in the Bible, look at the lives of those that the prophets wrote about, look at Jesus, believe his words, accept his promise for all who believe and put you absolute trust in Him. You can do no better. Then you will be able like Job to stand up and confidently proclaim
""But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that he will stand upon the earth at last. 26 And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! 27 I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought"