Six Principles to Fortify Faith | Part 2

Are the faith problems you experience actually rooted in faith? Obey God. Welcome to Love Worth Finding featuring the timeless teachings and biblical lessons of trusted pastor and author Adrian Rogers. Hebrews 11 verse 8 reminds us of the legacy of Abraham who was called by God in his old age and became a champion of the faith. In part one of today's message we learned that the Lord appeared to Abraham through a supernatural experience.

We have a greater advantage having the written Word of God, the mind of Christ, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. If you have your Bible turn to Hebrews chapter 11 as Adrian Rogers reveals six principles to fortify faith. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of faith.

We're not talking about something that is incidental. Remember that Hebrews 11 verse 6 says, without faith it is impossible to please God. Without faith it is impossible to please Him. Now, you want to please God, don't you? I've told you before, if you please God, it doesn't matter whom you displease. And if you displease God, it doesn't matter whom you please. And there is no way to please God without faith.

We're not talking to you about things that are incidental. Faith is the mark of a Christian. Christians were called believers before they were called Christians. It is our chief duty to believe God. John chapter 6 verse 29, Jesus answered and said unto them, this is the work of God that you believe on him whom he has sent. You want to serve God?

It's your chief duty is to believe Him. The supreme evil is unbelief. The greatest sin is not murder, rape, arson, pillage, tyranny. The greatest sin is the sin of unbelief. When the Holy Spirit of God comes into the world, He comes into the world, convince men of sin because they believe not. The reason that men are lost, doomed, damned, and go to hell is not because of some sin that they have committed.

It is because they will not believe. The Bible says in John 3 verse 18, he that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Unbelief is the source of all other sins. Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden.

Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden because they did not believe in him. The Christian life, according to Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 38, is to be lived by faith. The Bible says the just shall live by faith. Now, I want us to learn six powerful principles to help you to have that dynamic faith that will bring heaven to your soul.

First principle is the voice principle. We must hear God. Now, look, if you will, in verse eight. By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed and he went out, not knowing whither he went. The operative phrase here is he heard the voice of God.

He was called. Remember our scripture that we come back to over and over again in Romans 10, 17? Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

There is the voice principle. You must hear God. If there's something you're wondering about, you're thinking God is speaking to you, say, Lord, if this is you speaking, just keep speaking.

Confirm it in my heart. That's the way God called me into the ministry. God, do you want me to preach? Lord, I think you want me to preach. Lord, if you don't want me to preach, you better let me know. Lord, you want me to preach.

Now, that took place over almost a year. The path of the just is as a shining light that shineth more and more into a perfect day. What is the first principle of these principles? It is the voice principle. The voice principle, you must hear from God. The Word of the Lord came to Abraham, and God will speak to you.

God is speaking to you. And before you're saying, well, I don't know the will of God, let me ask you this question. Are you living by what you already know in the Bible? If you're not and you're asking God to guide you, you're a big hypocrite. Why should God give you more light when you're not obeying the revealed Word of God that's right here in this book?

Think about it. There is the voice principle. We have something better than Abraham. Abraham did not have the revealed Word of God like we have here.

Now, number two, there, the second principle is what I want to call the venture principle. Not only must you hear God, you must obey what you know. Now, look again in verse eight. By faith, Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, here's the operative word now, he prayed and he went out, not knowing whether he went. He heard and he obeyed. Now, he didn't know where it was going to end.

That was none of his business. Our responsibility is not to totally understand, but to readily obey. Now, remember, all he was leaving, all that he knew and all that he was going out in sheer obedience. I tell young preachers, they ask me, when I go to church, Brother Rogers, what should my attitude be? I say to young preachers, when you go to a church, there must be two things. Number one, you must be prepared to spend the rest of your life there, and number two, you must be ready to leave in the next 15 minutes.

Both are true. You can't say, Lord, I'm building a nest. You need to pray, Lord, if I'm building a nest, put a thorn in it.

I am ready to go. Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey. Now, friend, God gives you the choice. If you do not obey what you know, don't ask God for more light. God is not going to give it to you. Now, are you having a faith problem?

If you're having a faith problem, you're probably having, really, an obedience problem. Is there a confession that you need to make? Is there a restitution that you need to perform? Is there a gift you need to give? Is there a testimony you need to offer?

Is there a place you need to go? Obey. Obey.

Do you want faith? The voice principle, hear from God. The venture principle, obey God. Now, let's move to the value principle, and that is what I call the value principle.

You must establish priorities. Look again, if you will, in Hebrews chapter 11 now. Let's begin in verse 9. By faith, Abraham is speaking of, he sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country. Now, here's the operative phrase, dwelling in tabernacles. That means tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the promise. For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Now, I told you that Abraham was a stranger away from home, and he was a pilgrim headed home. Canaan was not his home at that time. He's looking for a city that had foundations, whose builder and maker is God. And he's living in a tent, and he won't put the tent pegs down too deep, because the motto was, this world is not my home.

I'm just passing through. He had a different priority. Now, the reason that many of us don't have faith is because our priorities are wrong. We think that faith is some way to get our will done in heaven, when faith is God's way to get heaven's will done on earth. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

So, you're living in a tent. Now, do you realize that our citizenship is in heaven, and we dare not, we must not get too attached to this world? Philippians 3, verse 20, for our conversation, that means our behavior, our citizenship is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. If you're living for this world, you will not have faith. Furthermore, faith is a junk business. The Bible warns about friendship with the world. James 4, verse 4, ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity, warfare with God? Therefore, whosoever will be the friend of the world is the enemy of God. Are you worldly? You wonder why you don't have faith?

You think God's going to give faith to his enemies? Friend of the world. Abraham was not a friend of the world. When you become a friend of the world, you live like the world. First John 2, verses 15 through 17, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof. But he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. And remember that faith comes by the will of God.

Now, think of it. First of all, you become a friend to the world, and then you begin to love the world, and then what's going to happen? Romans 12, 2, you're going to be conformed to the world.

Look at it. And be not conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, perfect, and acceptable will of God. Remember I said that you need the mind of Christ to know the will of God?

But if this world is squeezing you in, pleasing you in, molding you in, shaping you, Madison Avenue, television, your football team, the fashion designer, what is it that molds you, conforms you? And then you wonder why you don't have the mind of Christ. And then you wonder why you don't understand the will of God. First, it starts with friendship with the world, then love of the world, then confirmation to the world, and then condemnation with the world. First Corinthians 11, verse 32, but when we're judged, we're chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

Now, a lot of good illustrations about this. Abraham had with him a nephew whose name was Lot. Now, Lot is following Abraham, and the Bible tells us that Abraham was living in a tent, but Lot pitched his tent towards Sodom. He moved into the world. His wife obviously became high up in Sodom society. His daughters probably cheerleaders at Sodom High. He becomes a businessman and some sort of a civic councilman or something there in Sodom.

And he lost it all because he was gravitating to the things of this world. We hear so much today about the separation of church and state. You know the message needs to be preached today is the separation of church and world, come out from among them. I look at the average Christian today. They look alike. They dress alike. They talk alike.

They smoke the same things, go to the same movies, drink the same things. We ought to be different. The Bible says, come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord. If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?

We ought to be different. You want faith. Abraham had a pilgrim character. Now, that doesn't mean that he was a dropout. Abraham was in business. He had a family. He taught. He even had to go to war several times.

But Abraham was not molded by this world. May I ask you a question? What are your personal goals? Is your personal goal to make enough money to retire and have a nice house and to live in ease and to have certain things, what are your goals for your children?

Do you want them to be successful and famous? Are you more concerned about your spiritual walk with God? Are you more concerned about the character of your children growing in Christ and the kingdom of heaven? Would you leave your present job and take a lesser job for less pay if it were better for the character of your children? Would you do so? What is your goal?

Is it to impress other people? In whose home had you rather visit, the rich and the famous or the godly and the pure? Most of us are so squeezed in by this world and we wonder why we don't have faith.

Put it down big, plain, and straight. Abraham was a man to whom this world meant very little because he looked for a city that had foundations whose builder and maker is God. He had a pilgrim character. And Jesus epitomizes it in Matthew chapter 6, verse 33, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Now, we're just talking about principles of faith, folks.

And we're saying, without faith, it's impossible to please God. Here's the fourth principle. It is the vision principle. The vision principle. Keep your faith focused.

Now, you can hear the message today and you can agree with it. But as soon as you get back home, you're going to get out of focus if you're not careful. Look again in Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 10, for he looked for a city which had foundations whose builder and maker is God. The operative word is he looked.

He looked. Now, look again in Hebrews 11, verse 13. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off.

That's the vision I'm talking about. Having seen them afar off and were persuaded of them and embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. It is so easy to lose the focus that we have of the right values.

It is so easy to get us. It is so easy to get earthly-minded and worldly-minded. Colossians 3, verses 1 and 2. If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

Set your affections on things above, not on things of the earth. Now, friend Abraham had a vision. And his vision enabled him to see the invisible. Remember Hebrews 11, verse 1, our definition of faith? Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Now, that's the important thing. Look again in verse 13. These all died in faith, not having seen their promises, but having seen them afar off. That is, they saw the invisible.

They saw things that were not seen. Faith is seeing the invisible. And it is so true that we can, by faith, see the invisible. Let me give you an interesting verse. 2 Corinthians 4, verse 18. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.

Is that double-talk? We're not looking at what we can see. We're looking at what we can't see. Faith sees the invisible. It knows the unknowable. It does the impossible. Because of the vision, there is the focus.

You have to keep your faith on these things. A man went into the psychiatrist's office. The nurse came back to see the doctor and said, Doctor, there's a man out here who says he needs to see you. Doctor, I think he's crazy. He thinks he's invisible.

The doctor said, Go tell him we see him. There is an invisible world. There is a world that is more real than this world.

And all of these heroes of the faith were people who could see the invisible. Most of us live a life where all we see is what is before us, our car, our house, our jobs. We never get a vision. We never look inward. We never look onward. You know, even in the material world, you think of the people who make a mark, the explorers, the novelists, the artists, the creators, the inventors.

All of these have the ability to see the invisible. Before I ever preached in this pulpit, I would come out here when it was sheer dirt and stand up here and preach. That may sound funny to you, but God put a dream in my heart of what we're doing today. When Disney World was being dedicated, down in Florida, they opened it up a grand procession. They were all up there in the stands, and Walt Disney had died, and Mrs. Walt Disney was sitting there alongside of one of the representatives, and all of everything was happening in all of the fanfares Disney did it in those days.

And the lady sitting next to Mrs. Walt Disney said, it's a shame Walt is not here to see all of this. She said, oh, he saw it. That's why it's here.

That's why it's here. He saw it. Friend, it begins with a vision. Faith is setting your affection on something that is bigger than most of us are living for, just drawing our breath and drawing our salary. Now, here's the fifth principle, and it's the vigilance principle.

You must guard your heart. The devil will war against your faith. Look in Hebrews 11-11, through faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed and was delivered of a child when she was past age because she judged him faithful who had promised.

Well, that all sounds well and good. God gave Abraham a promise, but you know that he got his eyes off the Lord, and so did Sarah, and they did some terrible things. Old Abraham went down into Egypt when God had put him there and came, and I wish I had more time to tell you about that, but God put his faith to a test. God tested him, and he failed the test at first. Friend, God will test your faith. A faith that cannot be tested cannot be trusted. The Bible speaks of the trial of our faith in 1 Peter 1 and verse 7. Now, when you live the life of faith, faith is not all honey and no bees. Your faith is going to be tested. Abraham should have stayed there in the land of Canaan even though there was a famine. If he knew that God had put him there, he should have said, if I starve, I'm going to stay here. If God put me here, God's going to take care of me. Be vigilant. Your faith is going to come under attack. I'm going to tell you again, it's going to always be easy. In churches, don't get the idea that all the lost people out there and all the saved people are in here.

That's wrong. In the home, don't get the idea that you're not going to have any problem with your marriage just because you have faith. In life, don't think there are not going to be any heartaches, any tears. There are going to be problems, but Abraham returned. He came back to the life of faith.

I wish I had more time to speak about that, but let me give you the last of these principles, and it is the victory principle. Enjoy the blessings. Hebrews 11, verses 11 and 12, through faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed and was delivered of a child when she was past age because she judged him faithful who had promised.

Sarah got her baby friend. Therefore sprang there even of one and him God is dead so many as the stars of the sky in multitude and as the sand which is by the seashore innumerable. Abraham, name is great. His descendants are great. Abraham has been a blessing to the world.

He's been a blessing to me. God gave Abraham the land. God made his name great. And listen, think of all the things that God did through Abraham. From Abraham came the Jewish nation. From Abraham came the prophets. From Abraham came the Bible. And in the flesh, from the seed of Abraham, our dear Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It all came. It all came by faith. There is the victory principle. There is no way, no way you'll live in victory apart from faith.

This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. Maybe today you have questions regarding faith in Jesus Christ. We'd love to offer an insightful resource at our website.

It's the Find Answers page. There you'll find resources and materials that will answer questions you may have about your relationship with God. Also, you can check out our Grow Your Faith page where you can get grounded and dig deeper in your faith. Simply go to lwf.org slash radio and click the tab at the top that says Grow Your Faith or Find Answers.

We can't wait to hear from you today. Now, if you'd like to order a copy of this message in its entirety, you can request one by the title Six Principles to Fortify Faith. Call us at 1-877-LOVEGOD. This message is also part of the insightful series Champions of Faith. For that complete 18-message collection, call that number 877-LOVEGOD, or you can order online at lwf.org slash radio. Or you can write us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. You can also purchase our new Bible studies much like this message in our online store.

To find that, go to the website lwf.org slash radio. Do you want a faith like Abraham's who left a great legacy? Listen to the voice of God, obey what you know to be true, remain disciplined even when tested, and keep your eyes on things above. And be sure to join us next time for more from Adrian Rogers right here on Love Worth Finding. Here's an encouraging message from a listener who said, I enjoy listening to Adrian Rogers' sermons every morning on my drive to work.

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