things, technical data of how
to live our lives, the exegetical reality of where we find that
answer, and then we just parse that out until we die of boredom
or old age or conflict, whichever comes first. And we get to the
place sometimes where we do this with all sorts of things. You've
heard me talk about love and how we don't even understand
how to define the term because we can love pizza and we can
love ourselves and we can love our dog and we can love our spouse
and we can love our kids. I mean, do we love them? Do we even know what it means
in the context of what the Bible teaches and the application of
living as Jesus? I mean, let's be real for a moment
and just ask the question of ourselves, if someone were to
see my heart, would they see Christ? Not my actions, not hear my words,
not my posturing, not the masks I wear. If someone could see
my heart, would they see Christ? And the answer to that is yes
and no. If you are in Him, your heart
is of Him. Your mind, His mind is your mind. The problem comes when we think
that we have to prove that. And I talked about that a little
bit last week. Remember exposition, that deriving
the meaning out of the text. or speaking the text exegetically,
deriving the meaning out of the text, exegesis, is not the sense
in which we live our Christian lives. It's just the practice,
mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually, that we dig to work
out our salvation with fear and trembling. And we become codependent on
the observation of those outside of us to prove to us inside of
us that we are actually of Christ. To such a degree that many people
just give up. It's impossible to live under
the law of self-righteousness masked as grace. And the reason I say all that
is because today I wanna talk about faith. I want to talk about faith. And
we know that we see in Hebrews that faith is really something
that holds to something that is unseeable. We understand that it's synonymous
in the context as a noun, meaning the teachings and everything
that we know of Christ. Like last week we talked about
the gospel. And so I believe that we as believers
must stand firm in faith as we also learn the faith. And in
doing so, it is not something that historically we've been
taught to do because if you've ever sat in those seats and you've
heard me teach, you know that there is a sharp edge with just
my personality and my character and the way I think about things
in the world that is often hard to follow. It's hard to follow
because of just the way I speak. And even when I give 80% of my
energy to try to make things simple, what I do there is I
lose the authenticity of who I am, and then I'm actually acting,
so you don't even get the message. So you remember the jokes, you
remember the humor, you remember the antics, but you don't remember
the point. So I am me, and in the same way
that I've tried to do that throughout the years, We do that throughout every single
day when we try to live out according to what we think is what we should
be doing rather than being authentic and letting God figure it out
for us. Worst thing we could ever do is to pretend we know
what faith is and then live accordingly in the wrong. And then worse,
be fearful that what if we don't get it right? Here we go, beloved. You're not. You're not gonna
ever get it right. You're never going to get it
right. You're never going to get it correct. You're never going to be accurate.
Because even in one piece of precision, there's always some
piece of the roach still on the plate. Unaware as to you, because
it's baked into the biscuit. If you don't know that analogy,
I'll remind you later. And if your righteousness, if
your hope, if the love that you feel from God is dependent upon
your accuracy, then there is no love there. And so I have
to ask myself the question, James, if you're gonna lead other people
by going, first of all, you gotta get there, right? Or at least
be headed in that direction. That's what leaders do, they
go and then people see them and go, hey, I'm gonna go with you.
It's nothing to do about motivation, nothing to do with management,
no pressure. If I'm gonna do that, I'm not
gonna shepherd other people, show them the way, be the guide that
says there's the door. is the threshold of that door
low enough for them to step over where they are? Or do we have
to get out scaffold? Do we have to get out climbing
gear? Do we have to get rocket boosters and put them in our
butts to get over the threshold? Which is where we see in the
Bible the Pharisees were. And then people became, people,
what happens if we're not careful We hear the voice, let me say
it this way, we hear the voices of theological coaches, oh, you're
oversimplifying. You cannot oversimplify the simple
story of Jesus. It's as plain as the writing
on the page. I've even heard some friends Friday, and they
were not with me, but over there in a circle talking about how
the Bible, so many versions of the Bible are so corrupt. And
they're not wrong. I mean, have you seen how cheap
some Bibles can be? Fake leather, terrible paper. No, but in essence, I get what
they're saying. See, that's where we live. We live in a day and
time where things have become so complex that we can't even
trust the simplicity of what we can find before us. So what's the definition of is? Is, is, is, is, or is, is, is? Or is is is the way you think
is is? You see what I'm saying? No, I don't see what I'm saying.
But the simplicity of the fact that God loves, created, reveals,
came, saved, and promised life is so simple. I mean, we have
got fan fiction and lore from video games that are richer and
more robust and honestly, More prolific than scripture. I mean, our mind, humanity, we're
in endless canvas of creative perpetuity. We know how to keep
going and digging. I mean, I'm writing fiction.
It's a slow process. You know, it's not like writing
journal entries. Those are easy. Poetry, been there, done that.
Here we go. But fiction, it takes a while. I don't know how these people
do it. The Bible? Just a simple story. You cannot
oversimplify the gospel. But what we do, because we're
afraid of that, is we overcomplicate the process. We overcomplicate
the living. We overcomplicate it to a point
where some people come into the assembly, they're scared of how
they look, they're scared of how they speak, they're scared
of how they stand, they're scared of how they're going to be perceived,
because it's not just about validation from other people, but it's about,
if I don't look this way, then God is probably not pleased with
me. Wake up, call Beloved. God is always pleased with you. Because His displeasure's been
poured out on the perfect one. And that's not a license to ignore
what is right, prudent, and profitable. This is called basic intelligence.
Johnny, why did you stick your finger into the fire? I don't
know. I didn't think so. Like most
children, you have brain damage. Why did you do it a second time?
Because you told me not to. And you're stubborn. Why did
you do it a third time? I don't know. Was it a good thing? No. You can do it again? Never does it again. Such is
the way of humanity. such as the way of David, such
as the way of Moses, such as the way of all the people in
the narratives of the Old Testament, such as the way of the instruction
and the realization of what all of that meant in the New Testament.
Yet, we're sitting here trying to act like we've got it better,
that we understand it clearer, because we've written and said
and spoken and lived longer. Beloved, if longevity is the
moniker of intelligence and intimacy and introspection, the world
will not be where it is today. There is a spiritual, psychological,
emotional, and physical entropy that just continues to surprise
me to this day. So how do we stand firm? What
does it even mean? Let me define it this way very
clearly. I talked about posture, and I'm not saying posture as
in posturing like pretending or standing in a way that's not
true. I'm talking about how you stand.
How should we stand before the Creator? Before the divine essence? How should we stand before Elohim,
which means highest of all? The word God means highest of
all. It's not a name. It's an essence. How should we stand before God?
With covered face? 2 Corinthians tells us no. Cowering
with our heads bowed? Absolutely not. How do we approach
the throne of grace? Chest up. Face forward. Looking in the eyes of God. For we're made in His image.
We are saved in His image. We've been made to walk in newness
of life. Why? In the world. Have we bought the lie that that's
not true? Shh, they're worshiping in heaven.
Shh, everybody be quiet. No, kick the door open. Boom,
I'm home, Papa. Ooh, I'm home. And that's not
irreverent. When did God ever rebuke David
for getting down in his underwear and worshiping with tears? The only way we can do that is
to change the nominations. And then all the friends that
you have had for 20 years are no longer your friends. You have
to show up. Well, you won't be out of church till 3 o'clock
in the afternoon anyway. You won't see them at the restaurant. You have
to change restaurants. All the baddest will be there
at 11.50, and the rest of the guys have to get dressed so they
take some time to get to the restaurant. The posture. Faith is the posture
that doesn't shake. Faith is the posture that doesn't
guess. Faith is the posture that doesn't
worry and ruminate, how do I approach this? What should I say? How
should I pray? Am I doing the right thing? Just
walk. Just put the foot in front of the other foot in front of
the other foot. And when we step on a landmine, it won't kill
us. Because all the little bitty
pieces that come out of that, God that's morbid, all the little
pieces that come out of that, God has already put back together
in Christ. So it may feel like you're being annihilated, eradicated,
but you're whole. You're whole. Friends, to me this is the foundation
of every aspect of my life, every relationship, every idea, every
thought. 2 Corinthians chapter 1. We're
going to be in a few different places. This is going to be the
primary text this week. I've forgotten where it is in
the Bible. Verse 23, we'll just go there.
But I call God to witness against me. I cannot stand starting a
reading with the word but. It was to spare you that I refrained
coming again to Corinth. Not that we lord it over your
faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm
in your faith. So we've seen two things already
in this little mini-series. The last so-called Sermon of
1 Peter, we talked about standing firm in what? Grace. Last week
we talked about standing firm in the gospel, and today we're
talking about standing firm in faith. You stand firm in your faith. And what's happening here? Well, Paul talks about wanting to visit these Corinthians when he came
back from Macedonia, Judea, and he was back in two. He actually
says, I was vacillating. That's written in the Bible,
so when I say it, it's not because I have a vocabulary that's better than
yours, I just read. When did I want to do this? I
just couldn't make up my mind. Do I make my plans according
to flesh, ready to say yes, yes, yes, and no, no, no at the same
time? Have you ever felt that way? Let me just put that in
there, because this really speaks to some stuff. You ever felt
that way? Oh, yeah. Oh, no. Well, then what faith
will do in the context of what you know and where you stand
because of its object, because of the evidence, you're able
to stand firm, and when you are wishy-washy, you're not being
tossed to and fro, you're just human. He says, For the Son of God,
who we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was
not yes and no, but in Him it is always yes. For the promises
of God, I backed up, verse 20, find their yes in him. That is
why it is through him that we utter our amen. That means it
is so, so be it, to God for his glory. And it is God who establishes
us with you in Christ. And he has anointed us, and he
has also put his seal on us and given us his spirit in our hearts
as a guarantee. But I call God to witness against
me. He wants to spare you that I
refrain from coming to Corinth. Not that we lord it over your
faith, We work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your
faith. Chapter two, for I made my mind
up, I wasn't coming down there and hurting and suffering like
this anymore. I'm gonna make another painful visit to you.
For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but
the one whom I have pained? And as I wrote as I did, so that
when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have
made me rejoice. For I felt sure of all of you
that my joy would be the joy of all of you. For I wrote to
you out of much affliction and anguish of heart, and with many
tears, not to cause you pain, but to let you know the abundant
love I have for you. Now, if anyone has caused pain,
he has caused it not to me, but in some measure, not to put it
too severely, to every one of you. For such as one, this punishment
by the majority is enough, so you should rather turn to forgive
and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.
So I beg you, please, reaffirm your love for him, for this is
why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are
obedient and everything. What is he telling them to do? Love
the person that caused them pain. Anyone whom you forgive, I forgive.
Indeed, what I have forgiven, I have forgiven, if I have forgiven
anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, so
that we would not be outwitted by the enemy, For we are not
ignorant of how he works. And he goes on to talk then about
how the victory is really in the person of Christ. So here
we are with this idea of faith. Faith is invisible ground, but
yet we stand on it. Reminds me of that movie, one
of the Indiana Jones movies, you know? There's this great cavern
and the leap of faith. And everybody just falls off.
Well, he throws some sand out there and there's a pathway.
It's just camouflaged. He walks over. It's an invisible
ground. Faith is unseen, yet it is the
most solid ground you will ever stand on. I see some people take
theological problems with that statement. Nope. Nope, nope, nope, nope. Faith
is nothing. It's the object of faith. Listen,
folks. If we're having to do philosophical and psychological
and intellectual acrobatics to make things work, we are not
doing service to truth. We understand that we don't have
faith in our faith because that doesn't make any sense. It's
like breathing into a bag and thinking we're going to end up
with oxygen. There's an eventuality where
it will run out. And there's a reason why it calms
you down because you're about to pass out. Faith is the most solid ground
you will ever stand on. Paul here writing to this Church,
and this church is full of tension. This church is full of misunderstanding.
This church is full of, oh my goodness, problems. This church is struggling. And when Paul
writes to them, he's not dominating them or coercing them. He's not
coming to them saying, this is what you're gonna do, by golly.
He probably used some stronger language than by golly. He offers them partnership. He
says, we will work with you for your joy. And he names a foundation
that makes that joy unshakable. You stand firm in your faith. So see, I'm not doing acrobats.
I'm just reading the sentence. So faith is not a feeling, faith
is not a presence, it's not optimism, it's not looking at the positive
side, and it's not passive belief. Faith is a posture. What do I
call faith? Rest. That's my synonym. Anytime I
say the word rest, that is faith. Why? Because faith is a posturing,
is resting, like a child asleep. I have friends who have children
who are sick, and these children don't know they're sick. They're
not laboring in their mind about how bad the outcome of this illness
could be, but we as parents and as people with higher cognition,
we labor in anxiety over these things. One of them asked me
some weeks back, what do I do? How do I make sure that the kid's
comfortable? I said, stop talking about the problem and just play. That child is settled until they
see you unsettled. What is faith? In the lives of
the people around us, as we stand in a structured place, as we
provide control, as we are standing in a power that is not of our
own, they see this and they may not understand why, but there's
a settledness that comes when we're with someone who is not
scared. And even though we are scared,
well, they're with me, and they seem cool. I'm okay. That's faith
in a very small way. Now, if you can have that with
a human being, can you not have that with the creator of the
human beings, with the one who sustains all things by the word
of His power? So, faith. is a posture, a settled
resting place, a present tense trust in the nature of this highest
of all things that we call God, that we know only in the face
of Christ, in his nature, in his word, and his work. So Paul,
just like he always has to do, is defending his apostolic authority
here. but not through domination, not
through I'm in control, not through this is what I want for you.
Instead, he affirms their standing. That's autonomy. That's an individuality
and then a collective union. Sort of like marriage. Yeah,
because that's what it stands for. Not that we lord it over your
faith. See, he refuses spiritual manipulation,
spiritual control, spiritual authority. He has it because
God has ordained him to have it. But he doesn't use it because
it's not the vehicle through which people find joy. I'm the type of guy, when anyone
tells me not to, I am going to. And I don't care the cost. When
someone says you can't, I show them my ability. That that can't
eats the T and the apostrophe. That's my nature. Well, that
don't sound so godly. It's not. It's just me. And before everybody goes, well,
my golly, I'm not like that. We're all like that to a degree.
I mean, we don't walk around in obstinance, but it's in there. Get into an argument with your
spouse. Well, you're not going to do that. I won't permit it.
Watch it. Bring home that new dress or that new fishing rod
the very same day. Except for the smart guys nodding
their head no in the back while their wives look at the floor
of Grimm. We know what time it is. He says,
we do not lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your
joy. See, what is Paul's aim here?
What is correction? What is encouragement for? For
the rootedness of delight. Delight in the Lord. When have
you ever, ever lived in a space where the culture of Christianity
was drowning in delight? I'm not talking about chocolate
delight on Sunday night services. I'm talking about true delight.
to the point that we've had to create an entire dictionary of
colloquialisms and cliches and silly sayings that make us sound
delighted so that we can pretend that we are delighted, but we
really hate the people who are so delighted because we think
them fake because we're fake, so we project that crap onto
them. Because we know what's really going on in our lives.
Because nobody wants a Debbie Downer either, right? How's it
going? It's the most horrible day I've
ever had. What do we do? Lord have mercy,
I'm praying for you. And then you take your exit.
Oh, stomachache. At the same time, it's the best
day of my life. People mock that. Because for most people, it's
only something they can voice. not embody ontologically. It takes a lot of work to get
there. It takes very little work to stay there. The aim of this is delight. Beloved, the aim of your faith,
the whole point of your faith, no, let me get this word, No,
it's not to give glory to God alone. Well, what is God's glory
revealed about himself? He is delighted. Stop thinking of God in the caricatures of
humanity. The aim is delight. And the delight is not because
of what we gain in the world. The delight is because of who
we are, because of who He is, and because
we are in Him. Does that mean we never had sadness?
We've just gotten through with 1 Peter. What do you think those
people walked in? What do you think Corinth was all going through? These weren't happy people. That's
why they were escaping and all of these other things. They couldn't
trust themselves. They couldn't trust each other.
They couldn't trust the essence of where their delight lived. And then the third phrase there,
for you stand firm in your faith. The foundation is already present. You just need to stand up. I don't know what clip this came
from. I have an entire Could Jill you bite of data in my head
of things. I've watched read and listened
to and it just all comes together as one stream But I'll never forget this scene
someone is drowning and can't swim and The person standing
there says just stand up and he stands up in the waters only
like this That's sort of where we are 90%
of the time when we feel like we're restless and we feel like
we're in chaos that we can't order or find control or find
a focus in. We're not drowning, we're just
not standing. And we think we're about to fall
to our death, but it's only an inch away from the floor. just
stand up so you stand for you stand firm in your faith the
foundation is already present just stop kicking and stand stop
fighting and stand stop trying to make it work and stand Paul says this I mentioned this
text last week Romans chapter 5 verse 1 he says therefore since
we have been justified by faith we have peace with God through
him we have also obtained access by faith into his grace in which
we stand We see the spiritual warfare told to us in Ephesians
chapter 6. We see that Paul tells this young
church, Timothy being one of the primary overseers there,
in all circumstances take up the shield of faith with which
you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one. Now what's
the posture of faith there in spiritual warfare? You can't
touch this. That's the posture. M.C. Hammer
was the best theologian of the 90s. And now I hear the song. And you're welcome. And you see the dancing too,
right? You had the oh, oh, oh part. There you go. There you
go. What is he talking about? We'll play it during the Lord's
table. No, we won't. But you can't touch this. You can't touch this. You can't
touch true delight. You can cover it up, you can
hide it, you can create anxiety around that it's not there, but you
can't touch it. You can't touch pure joy, you can't touch pure
presence. You cannot be taken away. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. No one can pluck them
out of my hand. I will raise them up in the last
day, it's an absolute. It's not an option, it's not an opportunity,
it's not a possibility, it's absolute. You can extinguish the flaming
darts of the evil one. Nothing can touch you when you rest knowing
that you can't be touched. Well, why do we suffer? Though,
for a little while, if necessary, you endure various kinds of trials
so that through these trials it tests the genuineness of your
faith. It proves to you your posture. It proves to you your
standing. I didn't die. I wasn't destroyed. And the crazy thing is it's the
same thing that Paul closes this letter out with, right? This treasure, this faith, this
rejoicing, this standing we have in jars of clay to show that
the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. For we
are afflicted in every way, but we're not crushed. We're yes,
yes, no, no. We're perplexed. We don't know
what's happening, but we're not driven to despair. We're persecuted,
but we are not alone and forsaken. We are struck down, but we are
not destroyed. And in our body, we're always carrying the death
of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may be manifested also
in our bodies. And this is the message of the
New Testament. I mean, it's everywhere. That's
another thing, when we read the Bible, we read these letters,
we absorb it, we work through it, we constantly, continually
go through there, not to get the outline down, but to get
the application embodied within our spirit, within our soul,
spiritually speaking, so that the physical life that we live
begins to amplify the reality of the spiritual and the divine
nature of God within us. And not just the nature of God, but
the hope and the joy and the resolve. Paul tells the church of Colossae,
so walk in Him. If you've seen Him and you know
the way, then walk in Him. Follow after the pattern of His
life, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith. See, faith is not fragile as
much as it feels that way. Resting is not weakness. It's
not giving up. It's fortification. It's the strongest posture that
you can ever have. But what does it come from? It comes from knowing. It comes from knowing. In the
context of our Christian faith, faith is our fortification when
we rightly place it in the finished work of Christ, for redemption,
for hope, for eternity. So the clarity that comes to
me through this teaching is that faith is rest. Faith is trust. Some people look
at faith as self-delusion. It's not self-delusion. Faith
is not believing hard enough. Faith is not visualizing outcomes
and seeing what could be, possibly. Faith is not claiming the promises
found in the Bible with the right intensity. In Hebrews 11 chapter 1, I mean
chapter 11 verse 1, says faith is what? Trusting God's word over your
sight, over what you can see. We even see that? In 2 Corinthians
4, we hold fast, we look to that which is unseen rather than that
which is seen. For that which is visible is
temporal and passing away, but that which is unseen is eternal
and filled with glory, the outcome of your soul, of your salvation,
of your eternal essence. To live on in consciousness,
to live on in perpetuity with God, to live on in a new creation. We forget that, don't we? We've
relegated our entire theological ideas to death is the end. No, death is just the waiting
place for the new beginning. Faith is resting in the character
of God. And like James would say, James
2 chapter 17, faith is doing even when you don't really see
the way out or the outcome or the results, you just do. I watched a video this morning
of some pilots and they were in a terrible spin and they were
getting some instruction from whoever that was on the
other side of the radio, tell him to do stuff that I would
not have done, because I don't fly planes. Take your hands off
everything. Put your hands on the dash. Do
this. Do that. And all of a sudden, the daggone
plane stops spinning. And then now, you pull up, and you're
fine. And everything was fine. I'm going, yeah. I'd have burned. I'd have died of a heart attack.
But that's it. We do what we know to do because
it's going to work. How many times do people want
to get in shape, or to become healthy, and six months later,
or six weeks later, or whatever it is, and they just don't see
the results because they're not doing the work? Well, I tried. You didn't try, you quit. You
never started. I wish I had neater handwriting
than right neater. It's just not going to work.
You're right. You've got to understand that faith, at its root, is relational. It's not mechanical. Faith is
knowing who holds you, not just what the outcome will be. So
it rests and it holds and it allows you to move, even in stillness. See, our culture tells us that
faith is more a feeling, to listen to your feelings, to listen to
things. Now, listen, I am huge, and I don't talk a whole lot
about this because it seems to be a rub for some people because
they don't know the context and they don't want to listen to
intersected ideas. But I'm huge on intuition. I
think you should, every single time, a thousand percent, always
pay attention to your feels, to your thoughts. But they do
not drive you. You drive them. You catch it.
You witness it, and then if necessary, you experience it in such a way
that you're able to make a willful decision on what it means and
what you can learn from it because of who you are. And so then you
walk that way. You need to tap into your intuition.
You need to listen, but not follow. There's a difference. And when you find the weightiness,
and you find the dichotomies, and you find the things in life
that are like, you feel like you're in a whirlwind, there's
a reason, because you are in a whirlwind, and you need to
say, what is true? What is me? What should I do? But the reason our creativity
dies, the reason our hope dies, the reason that we're not able
to be childlike is because we kill our intuition. Because we
think that it's antithetical to faith, and it's not. But it
is not faith. See, some people would say, I've
got to see it. I'll believe it when I see it.
Some people in the same way, I don't trust what I can't feel.
Let me say this. If this building's on fire and
I don't feel the heat yet, but I see the fire, I'm leaving.
Well, it's not hot enough here for me. Nice knowing you. See you in the afterlife. If it doesn't feel real, it must
not be. I mean, I saw a picture a couple
of weeks ago at the cellular level that's
never been seen before. And there were people thousands
of years ago who used to imagine this stuff. What would it be
like to see what the body's made of? And that which is unseen. You see where we are as people? Scripture flips this story and
says we walk by faith, not by sight. And Paul would say, let
God be true to every man a liar. So you don't need to feel faith
to walk in it, you just know. Faith is not emotional certainty. It's a pathway, it's directional
loyalty. It allows us to walk and stand
in a way that sometimes just doesn't feel right or good. But we don't ignore those things.
But when we know, we stand. Because we don't move out of
fear. We don't avoid out of fear. We
don't run out of fear. That's not what we do. So when it comes to the gospel,
what we talked about last week, we come to the place of knowing
that it's not our faith that saves us, right? Because if faith saves us and
our faith isn't what we think it should be or isn't as established
as it should be, and who's to say what it should be? So then
we become the judge and the jury of our very salvation based on
what other people have made us feel. See, for me, faith rests on what
is absolute, what is finished, no matter how I feel about so
that I know when I see what I see, when I feel what I feel, when
I think what I think, I can test it without it driving me to insanity
and go, that's interesting. What have I learned about myself
here? What do I know about Christ here?
I'm gonna go that way. We are not saved by having a
strong faith. We are saved because of our strong
Savior. See, Jesus holds fast. We sang
that song this morning. That's a beautiful message. He
will hold me fast. I don't think there's probably
a better song that deals with the simplicity of the relational
intimacy of the gospel than that one. Isn't that what we all are
looking for? Just to be held and feel secure
and know that everything is as it should be. And then we feel
needy, or we feel fearful, or we feel incomplete. Faith doesn't
do that. Jesus holds fast. Even when faith
is small, or faith is nonexistent, or faith is absolutely rejected. Think of Peter there. Think of
David there. Even when you doubt, He intercedes. I read that text last week out
of Romans 8. The Spirit intercedes for us in our weakness, for the
Spirit knows the mind of God and prays according to His will
that it would be done for our good. What? You mean I don't even have to
pray? No. You don't. Sometimes we can't. Sometimes
our only prayer is silence. Even when we falter. 2 Timothy
2 verse 13, he remains faithful for he cannot deny himself. He
cannot deny himself. He cannot not be who he is. I mean, think about that for
a minute. I mean, I live in that type of standard in certain ways,
but yet there are compromises continually at work within me. If I am this, then I can't do
this, but I don't want to do that, but I want to do this,
but why is this calling my name? What the world? Don't go to Brewster's. You won't eat the sundae. You
know what I'm saying? Just keep driving by. Me like it. And yes, don't waste it, eat
the whole thing. It's 1,200 calories, who cares? It's 50 billion grams of sugar,
let's go. When we falter, he's faithful.
Doesn't change a thing. Because he does not deny himself.
Beloved, we can live there Not only in Him, but with ourselves,
we can live there. We don't have to make decisions
every day wondering if we're getting it right. Just make a
decision because of who we are. And we should spend more time
in looking at what is true and present than trying to figure
out what is possible. Because from the true and the
present, from the here, we will live out a life that is actually
exponentially phenomenal. and change the world one breath
at a time. And the world will look at us
like we're crazy. Well, that's not normal. That's not right.
That's not how it's supposed to be. You're right. Thank you
for the compliment. See, to stand firm in the faith,
according to Paul, is to stop trusting your grip and your control
and start resting in His. In Hebrews 12, we look to Jesus, the founder
and the perfecter, that word bothers me, of our faith. The perfecter. Every time you
type it, it's not right in your documents. That's not a real
word. It is. The founder and perfecter of
our faith. So where is our faith standing? Is your faith in the
outcome of your life, the outcome of your character, the outcome
of your maturity, the outcome of your rest, the outcome of
all these things, or is your faith in the character of God and who He is and who He is causing
you to become? But the becoming is not the object.
The becoming is the experience of the one who is immovable. Therefore, who you are and where
you are and where you are becoming is immovable, untouchable. Otherwise,
we're going to walk around a nine-mile stretch of wilderness for 40
years. Just turn left. You're there. Do you only trust when you understand
or when you're seen? And where are
you double-minded? Where are you double-minded,
believing and doubting at the same time? See, faith grows when it's fed
just like everything. But when it's forgotten, it grows
very weak. Now, if you go back and you listen
to all the sermons I did in 1 Peter and then those in Psalm 40, you
will see that I've been talking about mindfulness and embodiment
a lot. And those are buzzwords in the
culture we live in today because we've had an existential renaissance
after COVID. And everybody wants it. Nobody Everybody wants the warmth
of the fire, but they don't want to be forged through it. We have to be mindful of the
fact that we are duplicitous in so many ways that we have
many, many, many masks that we will uncover as our life grows
and progresses. And when we're able to take those
things and look at them and understand what they teach us about who
we are, and then we place them in the fire. If they burn, they
weren't true. If they remain, they are ours.
So then we ask, how do we live this out? How do we live this
type of faith out? That's feeding the faith. Being
mindful of it, being aware of it. But being aware of our Posture
in faith is not about what we're doing to be faithful. It's about
how we're resting in that which is certain And that's why I hate hypotheticals
I've always hated how you've heard me saying this since the
very beginning I hate hypotheticals because what they do in my mind
when I hear them and I'm not in a I don't want to say control,
but I'm in a state of disorder with the way I think about something.
It just goes everywhere. And there is no reason or logic
and hypotheticals that aren't grounded. It's ridiculous. Because that's fantasy. And if
I approach them as fantasy, it's good fan fiction. I love the
conversation. But if I approach them as possibilities,
It makes no sense, and then it's very disturbing. So, being mindful of faith is not
about how we're making it work. It's about the fact that it is,
and it does, and we're okay. And then we can work through
all this bubblies. Because if we don't have that
standing, we're nothing, we're driven by nothing but anxiety.
And that anxiety will kill you. It will age you, it will destroy
you, it will kill you, it will put you in a fruitless place
to where you seek death as a way of joy. And as believers, come
Lord Jesus and come quickly. And Paul had that, right? All
I want in life, all I want in life is to escape this body.
I just want to be, out of this body to be with the Lord and
to die is far better than this because of where I will be perfected
in Christ. I remain and stand still for
your sake because it is far better for you that I stay. I'm going
to get what I'm looking for ultimately. So it's already done. I'm fine
waiting on that. I don't have to go collapse into
this and jump off a cliff. I'm already alive in the death
of me. There's just space here. And
when that comes, whether it be now or never, or 100 years from
now, it will be. It is already so, so I don't
have to labor wanting that which is already mine. It's done. So
now that I'm here, and I'm satisfied, and I'm whole, whew, look what
I'm gonna do now. I'm gonna love based on who I
am into the lives of you who are meeting me where I am, and
now it is far better that I live for your sake. Why? For your
joy. That's what he says. For your
delight. Not your depression. Not your
discouragement. For your delight. So that's how you feed your faith.
You don't starve it in fear with distraction. Or my favorite,
performance. I'm good. Oh my gosh, I should have gone
into acting. Never thought I could until I
looked in the mirror and saw that I was. It's okay, not anymore. What we did is not who we are. So I believe that we need to
stand and see. We need to be watchful, stand firm in the faith,
This is Paul talking to some brothers here. Act like men,
be strong. Let me say this, act like women,
be strong. What's he saying there? Be mature. Act like adults. Because while we have a faith
that is childlike, we know that the childlike reaction to the
discomfort is not gonna help us. We don't kick over the candy
aisle because we can't have it. We don't kick and scream. We
don't slam the door. We just, I feel this. Now I stand on my foundation. So in that we stand and see and
we know that faith is not a private opinion, it is a public stance.
It doesn't matter who sees you. or what they say about you. Others will collapse under pressure.
They give in to the itch. They give in to the temptation.
They give in to the fear. They give in to the whatever
it might be, the expectation, but not us. We enjoy that edge. We're like,
yeah, wee, and we use that to fuel us to the place of standing.
We don't hide from it, because you're always going to have this.
There's going to be a larger pile over here. This is always going
to be a larger bag than this small platform. But this small
platform is the strongest. We stand. Why? Because our footing
isn't ultimately internal. It's eternal. So personally, what do you do?
What are you gonna do right now? What are you gonna do today?
What would you do today if you really believe that God is who
he says he is? In your spiritual life, what
about standing in the faith? Can you commit to yourself that
you want to stand? Root your identity in the presence of God? Not in your perception, but in
His promises. And with the world around us,
the people that we live with, the people that we engage with,
why don't you ask them? I say it this way, what is heaviest
on you right now that I can help with? Or you could say, where do you
need help standing in faith? And then walk together. That's all it takes. Not grand
gestures, not powerful declarations and manifestos, not tons of money,
just a real embodiment of the love of God. Living in that place of certainty
when there's nothing but ashes around you. That's how you stand. That's how Jesus approached the
cross. He stood and he died because
he was not in any way fearful that he would not rise again.
Even when that fear gripped him in the flesh, he stood firm because
he knew the promises of the Father could not fail. Let's pray. We thank you, Father, for the
truth of the gospel of Christ. May we be a people who can walk. Lord, may we be a people who
embody the truth, knowing we're not the guideposts, we're not
the lamps of righteousness. We just display yours. We are a reflection of your light. Father, I know, I know that some who hear this
message, Father, will be sort of in the dark. But I pray that you give them
ears to hear what I'm saying. And that the journey that you're
bringing us through and that you've brought us to, Father,
would not be in vain. I thank you for loving us in
spite of how we don't see it or receive it, but you loved
us anyway. Help us to love others in that
same way, not just in gesture, but Father, in truth. And help
us to keep the faith as it rests squarely in you. And we pray
these things in Jesus' name, amen.