Faith, It Brings Life- Part #2

This is Hans Schile from the Finishing Well Podcast.

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The following is part two of a two-part program. Do you feel like you're on a religious treadmill? Do you feel like Christianity is just a system of rules and regulations?

I can do this, but I can't do that. Do you feel like your efforts to reach God, find God, and please God are futile? Do you feel like your faith is dead or alive? Today, Pastor Russ Andrews will walk us through Scripture to answer these questions. Join us on Finding Purpose, glorifying God by helping men find their purpose for living.

For more information and to connect with Russ Andrews and Finding Purpose, you can visit us online at findingpurpose.net or connect with us on Facebook. Now, let's listen to Russ Andrews as he teaches us how to be a Christian without being religious. Okay, tonight's message is entitled, Faith that Brings Life. To Augustus Caesar, Caesar is Lord, yet this man called Jesus Lord. This was a very big deal for Roman centurion, as they had to swear allegiance to Rome. But this centurion saw something entirely different in this man who had these life-giving words that healed people, and so he called him Lord. I'm reminded of what Thomas said to Jesus when Jesus appeared to him after the resurrection. This was after Jesus had appeared to several of the other disciples, and they reported back that Thomas had not been present the first time when Jesus appeared to them in the upper room, but this time he's there. And he just didn't believe.

He said, I'll believe it when I see it. Jesus came in and he said to Thomas, Thomas, put your finger here. See my hands? Reach out your hand.

Put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe. And Thomas looked at him and said, my Lord, my God.

And then Jesus said to him something that's so telling. You have seen and believed. Blessed are those who have not seen yet and believed. You see, the world says that seeing is believing. The Bible says that believing is seeing. Faith precedes understanding.

So let me ask you, have you really truly seen Jesus and know Him as your Lord? Second, unlike the religious Jews that said He deserves this, the centurion revealed his humility when he said, I don't deserve for you to come into my house nor am I even worthy to come to you. See, humility is the key attribute that draws the attention of God.

Because God has chosen to give faith to those who are lowly in spirit, poor now to the world, like Maggie and Joyce. We need to come lowly, low, humble. James 4 10 says, humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up. Isaiah 57 15 says, for this is what the high and exalted one says, He who lives forever, whose name is holy, I'll live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.

This is what God loved about David. He had a broken and contrite heart over his sin. And guys, when you reach the point where you are broken over your sin, that's when you get God's attention. And God will use a broken man.

Everybody needs to be broken. Jesus came to give life then to those who are willing to humble themselves before God and not really care what others think about them. So let me ask you, have you truly humbled yourself before Jesus with a broken and contrite heart? Finally, this in turn revealed, men, that He had been given the gift of faith. Well, He believed. He said to Jesus through His friends, just say the word, and my servant will be healed. This is the picture of a man with saving faith. First, he sees Jesus who He really is, Lord and God. And he trusts God. He trusts what God has said. If it's in here, men, you've got to decide if you really believe it. I mean every word of it. If you start picking it apart, like Thomas Jefferson did, and so you've got a holy Bible, H-W-H-O-L-L-Y, a Bible that's full of holes, then you've missed the boat. I told this minister who did the eulogy the other day, a wonderful African-American minister who lives in Mike, Illinois, I'm hoping to get him.

I'm hoping to get him. I was telling him how that, you know, we need to examine the text to see what's in it. You already said to me, you need to let the text examine you. That'll preach, won't it? I might have to get this brother to come preach one night, because he can preach one night, but I'm going to have to get this brother to come preach one night, because he can preach one night, because he can preach in a way I ain't never been able to preach and never will be able to. But anyway, so look, the man who has a true saving faith, he sees Jesus as his Lord and humbles himself before, and he trusts the Word of God, every word in it. And in his humility, you know what God does?

He grants him the gift of saving faith and eternal life. Faith and eternal life, men, go hand in hand. See, we need to understand that left to ourselves, we would all perish, because none of us would ever seek Jesus on our own, nor would we ever really believe his Word, because we're born with a veil over our eyes, and we're born with a rebellious heart. That's the way we come out the womb, and that's why we begin life under God's wrath and as God's enemies. Don't ever believe this baloney that we're born God's children.

You're born God's children in a creative sense, but you don't become part of his family. So when he becomes your heavenly Abba and you become his son, until you place your trust in him, and you only do that when he gives you the gift of faith, and along with it he gives you life. Romans 3 10 11 confirms this truth. There's no one righteous, no one righteous, not even one. There's no one who seeks God, no one who understands.

And I want you to understand this truth. Jesus is the only one who has ever existed who can impart life. In fact, did you know this is why he came into the world? He came into the world to give life to a lost and dying world.

In case you hadn't noticed it, this world is dark and it is dying. John 1 4 says, in him was life, and that life was the life of men. What does light do for plants?

It keeps them alive. Without light, everything would perish. Jesus is the light of the world, and he came in to impart life to you and me. John 3 16 says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but what? Have eternal life. Notice this, have eternal life, not will get it. John 10 10 says, and I love this verse, I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly. I know this sounds like Joel Osteen. You actually can have your best life now, but not the kind of life he's talking about.

I'm talking about real life, the kind of life that Maggie had. So let's look at this next story, beginning with verse 11, and we're going to see how Jesus is the one who can impart life, and he does it by his word. Soon afterward, Jesus went to a little town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him.

The crowd was always following Jesus. As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out, the only son of his mother when she was a widow. Can you imagine if a widow lost her husband now she's lost her son, her only son. And a large crowd from the town was with her when the Lord saw her.

I want you all to see this. This shows the heart of God. His heart went out to her. It says that, you know, the word is really powerful. It's talking about your intestines.

Down there where you groan inwardly. It's what he did when he stood at the tomb of Lazarus. He groaned inwardly. His heart was broken. God breaks over the condition of the world. He hates death. He came to conquer death, and he has. Then he went up, but anyway, he said to her, don't cry. Don't cry.

I'm here. Then he went up, and he did something you're not supposed to do if you're a religious man, a rabbi. He touched the coffin. That means he contaminated himself. You think he cared. And those carried it stood still.

They will do. What's going on here? He said, young man, young man, who's he talking to? The dead son in the inside that coffin.

He says, I say to you two words. Get up. And the dead man sat up.

I think he's actually being carried. It's not like a coffin. We'd imagine he was not encased in a coffin. He was wrapped, I'm sure, and he was being carried on like a bed, a mat. He said, get up. He said, the dead man sat up and began to talk. What are you all doing here?

What am I doing here? And Jesus gave him back to his mother. They were all filled with awe and praise God.

Of course, they didn't quite get it. A great prophet has appeared among us. They said, God has come to help us people. They're right about that, but he was more than a prophet.

This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the whole surrounding countryside. I want to give you five truths very quickly that we learn from this incredible, and by the way, man, it's a true story. Why do I know it's true? Because it's in the Bible. Five truths.

Are you ready? These are so true and they're so simple. Outside of Christ, we're all dead men. Number two, as the Father gives life, so does the Son. Number three, eternal life is imparted to men by God's Word. Number four, eternal life is a present-tense possession. And number five, once saved, always saved. I want you to think about these truths.

What do they inform us about God and about us? First, men, without saving faith in Christ and Christ alone, we're all dead men walking. When you look out into the world, most people, they look like they're alive, but they're actually dead.

And they're just, you know what they're doing? They're just waiting for death. Death is going to always come knocking at some point. The reason we do this Bible study, man, is to get you ready for death.

Because you and Maggie, she didn't die, she fell asleep and she woke up in paradise. In Ephesians 2, 1-6, Paul writes, As for you, you are dead and you are trespassers and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of the world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the Spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us lived among them at one time, did we not? Gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature.

And we're all still struggling at some and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. Remember I said we were born under God's wrath? Objects of his wrath. Because he hates sin. Until he gets the sin out of us, he hates what's in us. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions.

It's by grace you've been saved. And God, listen, present tense, raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms. In, is that a big word? In Christ Jesus. Ephesians, Paul uses the word in him or in Christ 30 times.

Why? Because you must be in Christ and he must be where? In you. Don't you find this amazing? This is why we sing to him amazing grace. Just as God breathed life into the lifeless body of Adam when he first made him, he was lifeless. And God breathed life into his nostrils. He also breathes life into our souls. The moment faith is born in us and in that moment he gives us eternal life, it's all God, man, and it's all grace. We have nothing to do with it. Because how can a dead man do anything?

No. You have to be resuscitated by God Himself. And He does that by imparting faith into us so that we can receive the gift of eternal life. In this 100% work of God, can we understand the mystery of salvation and how He chose us some before the creation of the world?

I can't explain it, but I accept it by faith in God's work. Listen, if you want to know if you have been chosen in Christ, what should you do? Choose Christ.

Choose Him. Say, Lord, I'm not sure if you chose, but would you please choose me? And if you utter that prayer, it's because He chose you. That's the way it works. You don't really understand it until you come to the door and He says, all who will may come.

You step through the door and look back. You thought you chose Him, and He says, before I chose you, before the creation of the world. Can we explain it?

No. Salvation is a work of God. God's ways are way above our understanding, and we cannot understand the mystery of salvation. But we know what it says in the Bible, and we accept that which we can't understand by what? Faith. Faith is not blind faith, but at some point you're not going to have all your questions answered, and that's one of them. Thousands of books have been written about divine election, and we can sit here and debate it all night long.

All I know is this. I chose Christ because He first chose me. I love God because He first loved me. I was just growing up in Bethel, a little innocent little Opie that I was, and all of a sudden God had hold of me.

I didn't do anything. This is why God sent His Son into the world, to give life to those whom God chose before the foundation of the world. John 5 21 says, for just as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He pleased to give it. He was, Jesus was pleased to give life to the Son of this grieving widow. Jesus was pleased to give life to Lazarus, and Jesus, man, is pleased to give life to you and me who truly believe His Word, because eternal life truly is imparted to men by and through God's Word, man. That's why we study the Bible diligently. Romans 10 17 says consequently faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through what?

The Word of Christ. Have you truly heard the Word of God? When I say have you heard it? I'm talking about deep down in your intestines, in your soul, in your heart, in the depth of your depth of your mind. Do you understand it? Now that you, do you believe it? Remember faith precedes understanding. Understanding is evidence that you've truly believed. Do you have understanding?

In Revelation 2 verse 7, Jesus says, He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who ever comes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is the paradise of God. You notice that the Bible begins with a tree in a garden.

It ends with a tree in a garden. One day the nations will eat and lead. I don't quite, I think this is just symbolism, but we will, we'll be given eternal life, and we will be with Jesus forever. John 5 24, Jesus says, I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me, has eternal life.

Do you hear that? Has. And will not be condemned. Praise God. He has crossed over from death to life. The moment that you hear God's Word and believe that Jesus is Lord in your heart, in that moment when you possess eternal life. And listen, once you have it, you can never lose it.

There's no going back. And this is why we can sing, blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine. Heir of salvation. Purchase of God. That means He purchased us.

With what? His blood. Born of His Spirit. He must be born again. Washed in His blood. Thank God that whoever wrote that is biblical.

Can you see it? It resonates with truth. That's why we sing the great hymns, because they remind us of correct theology. Do you have blessed assurance as you sit here tonight?

If you don't, you just believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and in this moment of faith, you'll cross over from death to life. And then there'll be no turning back. Not only will you possess eternal life, but, I mean, you can have abundant life now.

This does not mean that you will have no problems. This does not mean that you will never face heartaches, times of loneliness, rejection, and perhaps even persecution. However, what you will experience, then, is a peace that passes understanding. A hope, then, that serves as an anchor for your soul, firm and secure.

A comfort that will sustain you through this difficult journey called life, and a joy that abides in the midst of sorrow. I know this to be true, because I witnessed it in Maggie. The one word that came up repeatedly at her funeral service was life. Maggie experienced life, even in the midst of pain and suffering, and she lived life abundantly, which amazes me, considering the conditions in which she lived and the circumstances. Listen, it was shared at the funeral service that whenever she encountered difficulties, you know what she always would say to the people? This is just part of God's plan. It's part of God's plan. It's lung cancer.

Not able to eat for the last seven or eight years. She never wants to complain. And by the way, Joyce McFarland has never complained. She always pointed people to Christ. This past Sunday, I found myself in my favorite place on this planet, Atlantic Beach.

I've been blessed to be to go there since the day I was born, and I love standing on this particular strand of sand that's been there time in eternity past. So Sunday morning, I was out there with my new little puppy. Her name is Bebe. If you told me that I'd ever get a dog that was bred to a poodle, I'd have said you're crazy.

This is a cockapoo, and she weighs eight pounds. I come home, I'll get home at night, she'll come jumping up in my lap, and she likes the salt of my face. She'll lick me for 15 minutes until I've got to stop Bebe. But we were out there Sunday morning, and it was a crisp, cold day. I was wrapped up.

I had a toboggan on my bald head. And Bebe was doing the one thing that God created her to do. First of all, she's extremely fast and very agile.

And she's very smart. And she was running. And when she runs, she actually kind of bounces like a deer. I've never seen a dog do that. I've never had, I've had Labrador retrievers. They just kind of mosey along.

This dog just runs and just almost like she's getting ready to take off. And as I was watching her, you mentioned chariots of fire, I thought about what Eric Lytle one time said. He was the Scottish runner who won a gold medal in the 200-yard dash back in the 1930s.

I don't remember exactly when it was, but I may be wrong on that day. But anyway, y'all remember the movie? Remember the famous line? He said, when I run, I feel God's pleasure. I think God created us to run. He created us to enjoy life.

And He wants to have an abundant life. Because I stood there, listen, I stood there that morning, last Sunday morning, I remember like it was yesterday. The sun was bright in the sky. The air was crisp. There were seagulls flying overhead. And there was, the sun was just shining and it formed this path right down to me. You know, the sun does that on the ocean, just comes right down like the yellow brick road. And I felt like I could have, was going to spread wings and fly away.

Seriously. My soul, man, my soul just has set free when I'm at the beach. I'm looking at God's glory and I can hardly take it in and I love it. And I was reminded of what Isaiah the great prophet wrote of that 700 years before Christ was born.

And I'll close with this. The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary in his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall. For those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings of eagles. They will run and not grow weary.

They will walk and not be fainting. Then I'm going to tell you something. The Christian life is the best life there is because you have joy and peace and hope. People are committing suicide because they don't have hope. We have hope. And guys, if you're sitting here tonight you may not feel like you're alive but you're alive in Christ. And the Bible says you're seated with him in the heavenly realm. I don't know all that that means but what it means is you have access to him and he gives you his power and he's with you.

Listen, when you walk through the storms of life and he will give you joy and hope and comfort you when life seems unfair. Do you have that kind of hope? Do you have that kind of faith? Do you know for sure that you possess eternal life?

If not, trust what God's Word says about him and surrender to him as your Lord and Savior. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this night. Lord, thank you for these men sitting here.

Might go too long. We love you, Jesus. Ask you to just be with the men of the next three weeks and be with Jim as he brings us the word next Tuesday and Peter Rochelle the following Tuesday and Joe Knott on March the first. And just I pray to God that these men would come out in droves as COVID declines so that we can support these three men when they come to show your Word. In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen. Being a Christian is not about being religious but about having a dynamic alive relationship with Jesus Christ. You've been listening to Finding Purpose with Pastor Russ Andrews glorifying God by helping men find their purpose for living. You can discover more about finding your purpose in life by checking out the resources at findingpurpose.net or connect to Finding Purpose on Facebook. Pastor Russ would also like to extend a special invitation for you to join him and over 300 other local men to study God's Word together every Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in downtown Raleigh. Find out more at findingpurpose.net.