1 Faith – Hope – Love Series 1 Corinthians 13:9-13 Faith March 11
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Faith – Hope – Love Series 1 Corinthians 13:9-13 Faith March 11, 2018
We live in a very competitive world. People and companies are vying to be
known as the greatest. Some of the examples that come to mind (at least my
mind) when you think of the idea of “the greatest”. One of the first is one who bragged that he could “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee” and that he was
“the greatest” – of course that was Mohammad Ali. Or the person who was known as the greatest showman on earth - who had a small gathering of animals and performers and they billed themselves as “the greatest show on earth” – the
Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus.
Or a little flame - legend tells us that was started by a lantern kicked over by Mrs. O’Leary’s cow - that destroyed most of the city of Chicago in 1871, the Great
Chicago Fire that burned from October 8 to October 10, 1871, and destroyed thousands of buildings, killed an estimated 300 people and caused an estimated
$200 million in damages.
And growing up in Indianapolis, I remember radio announcer – the late Sid Collins
– calling a little gathering of fans around Memorial Day in a field around 16th and
Georgetown – called the Indianapolis 500, “the greatest spectacle in racing”. A
slogan that holds to this day.
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There are many claims to being the greatest at many things. But the Scriptures tell us in our passage for this morning: 1 Corinthians 13:9- 13 For we know in part and we prophesy in part; 10 but when the perfect come, the partial will be done away. 11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. 13 But now faith, hope, love abide these three; but the greatest of these is love. NASU
The series, I want to look at these next three weeks, is Faith, Hope, and
Love – and what the Scriptures have for us to learn about these three things. You have seen in the opening of this message how some have claimed to be the greatest at whatever their specialty may be. Our passage tells us without qualifiers (Vs. 13) that Faith, Hope, and Love (abide – or remain). In the context of the passage, Paul has been talking about Spiritual gifts – and that they are given by God for the Body of Christ. But spiritual gifts are only temporary – to be used for the building up (edifying – encouraging) the body of Christ.
What is solid, steadfast, remaining – is faith, hope, and love. Faith is what brings us to relationship and our life in Christ (as we will look at in a few moments), 3
Hope is that which keeps us going on in Christ until the time we are with Him for eternity. But love - keeps going.
As we turn our attention to this the first of these abiding virtues – we see that the first mentioned is FAITH. We need to begin by saying what faith is: and the Scriptures defines for us what Faith is – Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. We see that faith is the knowledge that the things hoped to come are going to be and a certainty about what we cannot see. That is a biblical definition of what faith is.
Not a wishy-washy definition like Lawyer Fred Gailey tells Macy’s Community
Relations Person Doris Walker in the movie Miracle on 34th Street, that “Faith is believing when common sense tells you not to. Don’t you see? It’s not just Kris that’s on trial, it’s everything he stands for. It’s kindness and joy and love and all the intangibles.”
So what are 5 Aspects of Faith that the Scriptures teach us about Biblical
Faith. I am by no means saying that these 5 Aspects are exhaustive in our understanding of Biblical Faith. These are but some of our instruction on Faith teachings in the Scriptures. Biblical Faith is first (1.) Faith is the way to please
God. Hebrews 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who 4 comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek
Him.
Although the Scripture verse speaks of it in the negative – our first point states it in a positive manner. Again that Faith is the way to please God. Earlier in the chapter the Hebrew writer describes what faith is: (Vs.1.) faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. “Faith is trust in the unseen. It is not trust in the unknown because we know by faith what we cannot see with the eye.”
Faith is the ultimate assurance and ultimate evidence. It goes beyond the empirical – for it gives confidence in the reality of something that you cannot see or touch.
So we see that we need faith to please God. We get the mistaken idea that the faith it takes is the faith the size of the Apostle Paul, or a Billy Graham, or someone like that. It is interesting that in the Scriptures - Jesus praised those who had even a small showing of faith. A second Aspect of Biblical Faith is that
2. Jesus praised even the small showing of faith. In the story of the Centurion, recorded in Matthew 8:5-10 we see, vs 5. And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, 6. and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying 5 paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.” 7. Jesus said to him “I will come and heal him.” 8. But the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9. For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’
And he goes , and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it” 10. Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.
Here a Centurion – a Roman, not an Israelite, is saying to Jesus – I would like you to help me, but I know that I am not an Israelite and not worthy for you to help. BUT, I believe that if you will just say the word my servant – who is paralyzed – will be healed. Jesus is saying – Wow – here is someone not from
Israel whose belief is stronger that those to whom the truth has been given.
Or remember the passage of the woman who has the issue of bleeding in
Matthew 9:20. And a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak; 21. For she was saying to herself, “If I only touch His garment I will get well.” 22. But Jesus 6 turning and seeing her said, “Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well.” At once the woman was made well.
Or the healing of the paralytic recorded in Mark 2:1-12 remember where the home where Jesus was staying was so crowded with people that a paralytic was let down through the roof by 4 of his friends. So that Jesus could see him and heal him. It is interesting here that the faith that Jesus notices and praises is not that of the paralytic – but the faith of his four (4) friends who brought him, opened the roof, and lowered him.
The passage shows that the paralytic was a person of faith also – as we see in Vss. 11 & 12 “ I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.” 12. And he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone, so that they were all amazed and were glorifying God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this.” And we see that the paralytic did not say,
“Hey, what do you mean get up and walk? I haven’t walked in years. My legs do not have the strength to rise up.” NO, we are told that he got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone. He was immediately obedient to the words of Jesus. 7
Jesus speaks of the great works that we can do if we will but have the faith
– that is the size of a grain of mustard seed. Several months ago, to illustrate a point in his sermon, Pastor Jeff handed out a mustard seed. It is a small seed –
Yet Jesus said if you will have the faith – the size of the mustard seed – you can tell this mountain to be removed and it will.
God works great miracles in those who have a small amount of faith and as we see the working of God in great ways in the midst of our small faith – We see our faith GROW. Because we can see that God is faithful to His word.
A third aspect of Biblical Faith – 3. The Righteous Live by Faith. As Paul says in Romans 1:16&17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of
God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
17. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.”
It is the gospel, or the “good news” – Christ coming to be among us and dying – paying the price for the sins that we commit – that separate us from God.
God’s gift that is available to everyone – who will take the gift (believe and act upon it) that we have salvation – the restored relationship with Him. But those who are made right with God – has a restored relationship by the gift of salvation 8
– continue in that restored relationship by living from faith to faith. Living and continuing to grow in our faith. As we experience success in one faith experience, we become stronger and more successful in the other opportunities to experience living out of our faith. (As we will talk about later).
Fourth, 4. We are justified through faith, not anything that we can do.
Justified means to be made right again. Restoration of a broken relationship we have with God – that was broken because of our sin. As we are told in Romans 6:
23. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ
Jesus our Lord. The natural deserving of sin is death – that separation (broken relationships and fellowship) with God.
But we see that God has fixed the problem – while still being faithful to
Himself and not being able to be with sinful beings. Christ became our sacrifice, paying the price for us – that our fellowship with God can be restored. As Romans
6:23 states – it is a “free gift of God” - there is nothing that we can do to earn it or deserve it. God provided that gift for us and we can either accept the gift or deny the gift. To accept the gift is the act of faith – it is not something that we have to stir up “so much faith” to have enough to get it.
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Fifth, 5. Faith must be exercised (used). Just like our muscles must be used (exercised) in order to be made stronger – so our faith has to be exercised
(used) to be made stronger. As we use our faith in little things and see the outcome of our faith, we are encouraged and strengthened to use our faith at other times. The writer James tells us that when we face trials, be encouraged because our faith is being made stronger. James 1:2&3 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
It is a whole different way of looking at the difficult times that we encounter. Instead of thinking it is punishment for sin, what is the positive that we can learn from this situation. Especially, if the trial is not of our one making.
And going through the trial is an opportunity for us to grow in our faith.
James also speaking of the correlation of faith and actions (or works) says in
James 2:14-18 What use is it, my brethren, if a man says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?” 17. Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. 18. But 10 someone may well say, “You have faith, and I have works; show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
So James is saying that faith, the true and living faith, has to be lived out. It is not truly faith to say, “I believe”. James says that true faith has to be put to use.
Faith cannot be kept inside it has to be demonstrated. That is the only way that others can truly see our faith.
_ You may ask, “But what can I do to build my faith?” Charles Stanley, from
In Touch Ministries shares what we can to do increase your faith.
1. Read the Bible: You must feed your faith a steady diet of God’s Word
2. Exercise your Faith: A bodybuilder doesn’t begin by lifting 500 pounds the
first day (neither do we have the faith of Daniel or a Billy Graham our first
day as a Christian). Regularly exercising your faith (putting it to use) brings
about spiritual growth.
3. Embrace Trials: Just as in James 1 Peter 1:3-9 reveals the difficult truth that
adversity, when met with God’s power, creates greater faith.
4. Examine the Testimonies of Others: A testimony is an individual’s own
story of God’s activity in his/her life. No one can ever deny, refute, or
downplay someone else’s testimony. When you hear of God’s mighty 11
dealings in another person’s life –we should be encouraged and your faith
grows.
5. Pray: You get to know someone by talking to them. Prayer is a personal
communication with God. But don’t just talk – spend time with God –
listening. God wants to speak to you also.
6. Practice Obedience: You will never grow in your faith if you consistently
disobey what God tells you to do. Perfect faith comes from obedience
Faith does not increase by accident. Growth takes time, dedication, and being intentional.
Let us pray –
How about you – is your faith where you would like it to be? Is God wanting to take you deeper in faith and your walk with Him? Remember without faith it is impossible to please God. Is God pleased with us – are we pleased with where we are?
Or maybe there is something else that God is laying on your heart for prayer . I invite you to come during the singing of our hymn to make it know and we can pray together. Now is the time.