Faith: Keeping on a Steady Course

Well, happy Sabbath, everyone! It's always good to see you. I don't know whether we've got a sheep and goat thing going on here. You know, it seemed like I read about this in the Scripture. You know, when Christ comes back. No, I'm joking about that. I know we're all here, but we're just all, most of us, over here. But good to have you here regardless. Today the first message. I want to ask you for the sermon here today, is your faith on a steady course, or could you be in danger of a shipwreck?

You know, Scripture warns us of being shipwrecked in our faith. I'm sure you've read that in the Scriptures. In other words, getting so far off course that we find ourselves driven by the winds of this world and going down, spiritually speaking. It's like the storm is just too powerful, and it blows the sails down, and you begin to sink and go down into the quagmire of this world.

You know, God called us and He brought us out of the world, but it does not mean, though, that we can't go back into the world. Some have. Some have gone out into the world, and it's amazing how quickly they go down. And their minds are totally turned against God's way of life. You know, Paul instructed Timothy. He said, you fight the good fight, holding on to faith.

You've got to hold on to faith. Paul knew what he was talking about. And the reason he warned Timothy of this, he says, so he wouldn't be shipwrecked in the faith. Let's go to 1 Timothy chapter 1. 1 Timothy chapter 1, if you'd go over there here by way of sort of introducing this message to you today. But here in 1 Timothy 1 and verse 18, let's notice here what Paul said to Timothy.

He was a young man at this time, but we need to get the idea that Timothy, you know, he didn't say young all along. Eventually he became an old man, you know, in the church. And Timothy became an apostle within the church, a great teacher. We don't read about his life, but if there was a story to be told, that would be the story of Timothy, that he learned, of course, by following the example of the apostle Peter.

But in verse 18 here, it says, this charge I commit to you, son, Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare. You can fight that good fight, having faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected concerning the faith and have suffered shipwrecked, of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, who I've delivered to Satan, that they may learn not the blaspheme.

So here Paul was talking about, you know, two individuals, apparently, that got too big for their britches and lost the faith. They became shipwrecked. And, you know, here Timothy was being warned, be careful, that you not be like they are, and of that mentality at all. So I wanted to talk about, in the course of this message to you today, is what shipwrecks your faith? What causes you to go down? Why do people lose and end up going back into the world and sinking right back into the world that God called them out of?

Well, I think we all know that we as human beings have foibles that are bad habits. All of us have bad habits, don't we? And I would imagine, if I asked you to raise your hand, how many of you are wrestling with a bad habit right now?

You'd probably raise your hand, unless you're an alien. You know, unless you're not somebody from this world and you're perfect, only Christ could, in fact, raise his hand. In that case, all of us have something that we're fighting and striving to overcome. You know, Mr. Armstrong was 93 years old, and I remember him one time saying to the ministers—he very often had ministerial meetings, and my wife and I were able to go there—but he said, you know, I'm still working on myself, and I've got things I need to overcome.

He was 93. So he was still fighting that fight. So we could have bad habits that can slowly divert us off course to where we're in dangerous waters, and we can quickly go down in the rough surf of this world. You know, the title of this message, if you want to write at the top of your paper, is faith—keeping on a steady course. And I mean by that, keeping on a steady course in your life. For some people, their life is sort of like this, you know, up and down, up and down, you know, and we want a steady course going forward. Yes, we're going to suffer setbacks in our lives, but generally our lives should be steady, moving toward the kingdom of God.

So we're going to talk about this in the course of the sermon. Let's go to Hebrews chapter 11. This is the golden scripture over here that most everybody probably thinks about when we say the word faith and how we can have that faith. But here in Hebrews chapter 11, let's notice this.

In verse 1, it says, now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. So this basically is saying that faith is evidence. Now all of us know what evidence is in a case, don't we? You know, that if something is proof, in other words, that a person is guilty, or a person, it means, you know, what they say. There's proof of it. And you know, it's like talking here before, you know, the service today, speaking to one of our members, you know, who'd gone through trials in his life, and he was talking about how God had healed him. And then I related to him things that happened to me. That's evidence right there that God is there. You could trust Him. You could believe in Him. And in this world that we live in today, very often people doubt so easily. You know, we have too many crutches in this world. And then, you know, we don't rely upon God the way that we should. And sometimes that really affects our faith negatively. So get that in your mind, brethren, that faith is your evidence. You got that in your hand when you deal down, and when you ask God for something that is needed in your life. But notice in verse 2 here, you know, Mr. Babb was talking about serving in the church. It says then, for by it, now he's talking about faith here, by faith the elders obtained a good testimony. And, you know, he's going to talk about some of these elders, patriarchs and matriarchs of the Bible that are, of course, famous, world famous, as a matter of fact, right here in chapter 11, the who's who of godly people through history.

But, you know, think about the fact that by faith, you know, they obtained a good testimony, a good report. In some cases, it's translated that way. And, you know, brethren, we obtain a good report in the same way. You know, oftentimes people talk about how, you know, one minister or another has been in the ministry a long time, and certainly it's true that we have a lot of long-time ministers in the church. But, you know, they started young, reflecting back. I was sent into the ministry in 1974. I was 23 years old at the time. More people call me Mr. Tuck then than now, by the way. So things have changed a good deal. But the fact is I made a commitment to God. My wife made a commitment to God back in those years. And, you know, all of us could quit, all of us could give up, but that's not why, you know, we're here. We're not here to give up. We're here to keep going forward, to have faith in God, to trust God, and what God says. Not what we think, but what God says. That if God says it, you can depend on it. And if you put one foot in front of the other and you keep going, in spite of all that you see, you know, you'll be there. And when the time comes for you to either be changed if you're alive, or the time when we're there in the grave, waiting for the time of the resurrection. So by faith, we obtain a good report. And notice it says, by faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God. By faith, it was done. So that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. Now, we don't understand invisible things becoming visible, do we? But because God is involved, you can be sure it's true.

You can have faith in that fact that it is true. But let's look at this one down here in verse 6.

It says, but without faith it's impossible to please God, to please Him. As it says here, For he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He's a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. You see, we can't please God unless we have faith, unless we realize who we're dealing with. We're not dealing with, you know, Joe Shbow down the street. We're dealing with the Almighty God that framed the entire universe by faith. It's all been done by faith. That's how powerful it is and who God is and how powerful God is.

And, you know, here we are, you know, God beholds us like, you know, grasshoppers here upon the earth. We're tiny in the eyes of God. And it's really arrogant, isn't it, to express any doubt of the God who created us, to express any doubt about the God who created the universe. That's arrogant. And we are so small and so insignificant. And that's why David said, God, why are you even mindful of us? Why do you even, you know, why do you even consider us? And, of course, David realized that God was going to put everything in our hands in the future. He's going to give us incredible authority, incredible power in the future. So realize again, without faith, everyone in here right now, if you want to please God, you've got to have faith. You're going to believe God in what God says. Go with me, if you will, over to James 2. James chapter 2. You know, Martin Luther thought the book of James was a book of straw.

Didn't think it was God's way or God's word. But notice here in chapter 2 and verse 26.

For as the body without the Spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. Now, that's a powerful verse right there. You can understand why people want to do away with the law. We'd want to get rid of that verse right there. You see, faith without works is dead.

It's like, you know, Rover, when he's dead, he's dead all over.

If we don't have faith, if we don't have works. You know, we had a first message was talking about serving in the church. And this verse, one verse right here, shows us, brethren, we've got to have works. We've got to pitch in to the congregation. We've got to serve within the congregation and not just have works of obedience to the law of God. We've got to be willing to serve within the church. And after all, isn't that one of the reasons why God called us? There are two reasons God calls people today. I had a person I wrote a letter to this past week, and I went over this whole thing here. It took two pages for me to write this individual, and I showed him that the only people that are being called today are the saints. You know, you can go over to Romans 1. I forget what it was 7. I think it is. And it says, we're called to be saints. So only saints are being called today.

Now, I hope you're not thinking, I might be in the wrong room. No, you're not in the wrong room. That's why God has called you. And you have to have faith, and you have to have works. And in Hebrews 11, all of the people that are named there have works, and we need to have works as well. So I want to talk to you now about seven bad habits which will destroy your faith and leave you drifting aimlessly in the seas of this world. There are just seven points that will be very simple, and we'll move through them fairly quickly here. Number one, bad habit people get into is loving the world rather than loving God in His way. Loving the world. You get enamored with this world out here. It is like, you know, it's like in fishing, you know, a fisherman uses a lure that's really sparkly, and the fish, you know, he just goes after that sparkliness. And that's what Satan has done in the world today. He's made this world out here very attractive to carnal-minded people. You know, he really tries to lure them like the fishermen with the fish in the water, and then people just go right after it. You know, loving the world starts so innocently.

You know, we never tend to desire the things of this world more than the things of God.

But before we know it, if we're not careful, if we don't check ourselves, we can make idols out of the objects of our desire. We can want things in the world so badly that we're willing to forsake the good things of God's way to have them. I know because I have seen it. I've seen people that have left the church in order to have a bite out of the world out there, think that they they've got to have their share, and got to get it, and it's got to have it down.

And for them, what happens if Satan convinces them that the laws of God stand in their way.

Some people I've loved dearly have done that, and they've gone the wrong way. You know, the Apostle John warns us over in 1 John 2, verse 15, if you want to write that into your notes, he says, do not love the world nor the things in the world. He says, if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. And if God's love is not in us, we don't have anything to do. As it says in Romans 8 and verse 9, we don't have anything to do with Jesus Christ. Because if the love of God is not in us, it means that the Holy Spirit is not in us.

You see what I'm saying here? So we've got to have, again, a love for God and not be distracted by the things of this world and of this society. Point number two. Now, that was fast, wasn't it? The first point here. Point number two is neglecting the study of God's Word. You know, just not studying the Word. Sometimes people fall into a mentality of, well, you know, I don't have to read all those booklets. You know, that's what ministers have to do.

They've got to have that stuff in their mind. I don't have to have all that in my mind. Well, that's a wrong mentality. You know, one of the easiest things to become attached to in this world and to pursue is the temporary. It's so easy to do that rather than to study God's Word and really try to wrap your mind around things the world does not understand, does not have a clue. Remember, Jesus said he was going to reveal to us things hidden from the foundation of the world.

You know, some people think they understand what the gospel is.

Sometimes I wonder if they have even a clue what the gospel is. You know, Mr. Armstrong wrote a book called The Incredible Human Potential, The Mystery of the Ages. Now, if you read those two books, by the way, go back and reread them, you'll begin to understand what the gospel is, what the true gospel is about. And Jesus Christ proclaimed that gospel and how wonderful it was and what was coming. But we need to keep, brethren, our noses in the Scripture on a regular basis, letting God's way into our hearts and into our minds to keep us spiritually focused. Keep your mind again in the right place.

Don't allow yourself to be distracted. Satan wants our minds to be drawn to the world in its ways of get. You know, in the parable of the sword, Jesus warned this.

And if you want to turn to Matthew 13 in verse 22, Matthew 13 and verse 22, he said, the man who hears the word, talking about, you know, this seed that falls on the ground, the man who hears the word and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word and it becomes unfruitful. And so, you know, you couldn't hear the word and it makes sense to you. And maybe you begin to sprout, you begin to understand a little bit more, but if you worry too much, if you're fearful, if you care too much about the things of the world, you want the things of the world and that impacts your attitude, it can choke out, you know, God's way of life. And that's how we can become shipwrecked. So the key is not neglecting the study of the word, but a mercy to our minds and scripture. Our faith is strengthened by what we read. You know, every time I pick up this book and I read it, study it, I learn something. Just about every time, without fail. And I'll share it with my wife and say, have you ever noticed this? She does the same thing. She studies God's word. She's on the Bible reading program. And we started that up in the Bay Area, you know, I don't know, maybe 15 years ago. I think she's been reading the Bible through every year, the last, I don't know, how many years. And, you know, her wisdom increases, and those who do that, you know, find their faith increases as well. They learn more and more, and God's ways embedded in their minds. And so, brethren, don't neglect study. Get on some sort of program. We have, in fact, how to read the Bible through every year, little pamphlets out on the bulletin board. You can pick them up today. Yeah, and you could begin, you know, your study, in fact, tomorrow or today, if you wanted to, after services. You know, that you'd be able to begin on that. You could begin any time, and I encourage you to just, you know, make a go of it for a year and be amazed, I think, about what it does for your faith. To point number three, one of the bad habits about, that will shipwreck our faith, is trusting in your own feelings. Trusting in your own feelings.

You know, the Bible, the Word of God, when we understand the truth, and the Holy Spirit, you know, what it does for us, it educates our conscience. It teaches us what kind of conscience that we have. You know, oftentimes people go on their feelings with an uneducated conscience. And by that, I mean not a godly conscience, a conscience that has been from the Word of God. And it takes a long time to educate our conscience through study, fasting, and prayer. You know, we are, of course, to have discernment as God's people. And sometimes people's lack of discernment is a dangerous thing, because Satan is able to deceive them very easily. Like what happened with Eve in the Garden of Eden. You know, she was very innocent. She didn't have that discernment. But we are to have discernment by the Holy Spirit. But remember, the Holy Spirit helps us if we have educated our mind with God's Word.

We don't rely on the feelings, because the feelings are not Scripture. The feelings are just what we feel. And you know about our feelings is we tend to, you know, change our feelings, don't we? I don't feel about things now the way I might have felt about it 10 years ago. Things change, and that just is the way it is. Let's go to Jeremiah. And again, here Jeremiah is talking about trusting within ourselves, which is a very dangerous thing to do. But in verse 9 of Jeremiah 17, Jeremiah 17 verse 9, it says, the heart is deceitful above all things.

Now, I hate to say that about your heart, my heart, but if we're going to rely on our hearts, our feelings, that's a very dangerous thing. So it says, it's deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. And then it says, who can know it? Who can know it? No one can really know how bad we are. It takes God's Spirit, doesn't it, to really see yourself as you really are? Because you don't know what you don't know. And only if God reveals it to us. And you know, it takes conversion, it takes repentance to see yourself as you really are. And hopefully, when we do see ourselves as we really are, we don't trust ourselves.

It's like I remember when God called me. I said, God, if you just revealed to me what this book says, I promise you I will do it. And I was serious in my heart. I will do it. And I made that commitment. And I've tried to stick with that. You know, here in Jeremiah 17 verse 9, you know, there's a one translation that says, the heart is is incurably sick. It's incurably sick. We can't heal, can't cure the sickness of the human nature that we have.

Our feelings often mislead us, making us think God's way doesn't work. How many times have I counseled with people? Have you met people that say, you know, God's way doesn't work? You know. Had a man tell me one time that prayer does not work. Well, with an attitude like that, I can see why his prayers don't work. Because he lacked faith. He didn't believe God. He didn't trust God. So our feelings can mislead us, brethren. We can even think, well, you know, at times in our lives, well, God has abandoned me. He's been with me. But where is he now? You know, some people can come to the idea, and even David did. David had such serious problems, and, you know, he said, God, why do you hide yourself?

But God isn't hiding himself. You know, we can think that God's abandoned us, but what are the facts? What are the facts? Well, Jesus Christ himself said that he would never leave us or forsake us. That's the facts. That God is always going to be there for us.

Hebrews 13.9, though, shows that that fact that he's going to be there for us. And we just need to believe that. We need to have faith in that. Our feelings may tell us God's angry with us. God is angry with us. And it won't give us another chance to repent.

But the Bible tells us differently, brethren. Let's go to Romans 8. Let's notice over here what God says to us. You know, Satan would like to convince us that God doesn't care, that God has just sort of walked off into the universe and he's going to leave you hanging, hanging. Or that God is looking for a time to pull the rug from out, from under your feet.

And that's certainly nothing could be further from the truth.

Romans 8. Romans 8, verse 1 and 2. It says, therefore there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ. You know, we understand what that says right there. God is not condemning His saints. He's not condemning you, brethren. You're special to Him. You're favored in the world right now. Remember, God isn't calling the world right now. Now, they'll have their opportunity because God wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. That's what your Bible says. And He's got a plan. He's going to make that happen. That everyone will have a chance, but there's no condemnation for you. God's not angry with you. He's not angry with us.

And He's looking, in fact, to bless us. He's not looking to punish us. And it says, it says, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and death. So when you repent of sin and you committed your life to God, yet you may fall down, you may make mistakes, everyone does. God says, if you repent, I will forgive you. And there's no condemnation for the saints. And we can move forward. You know, God says to each of us. So we need to believe that. Our faith must be built, brethren, on truth and the Bible and not our feelings. Like I said, feelings change. But, you know, Jesus Christ said, I am the same yesterday, today, and forever. And God says, I changed not in Malachi 3 verse 16.

Or verse 6, I should say. So God doesn't change. And then he goes on to say, therefore, the sons of Israel are not destroyed. If God wasn't so merciful, he would have destroyed Israel a long time ago. But he made promises, and God keeps promises. And he continues to do that, not just for you and me, brethren, but he's doing that for, you know, Israel that has turned away from him.

So, you know, that point number three there, point number four, point number four, you know, sometimes people in their lives are always sort of ringing in their hands, aren't you? Oh, I don't, I'm so concerned. I'm so worried about this, or worried about that. Well, that's a bad habit, getting into that worry, wart syndrome that people get into.

And worrying is an easy thing to do, but it's dangerous. But why is it dangerous? Why is it so dangerous to worry, or to be afraid even? It's dangerous because, you know what? It insults God. It's an assault to God. When you and I worry, and, you know, we're going to do it because we're physical, mortal human beings, the disciples did it, and, you know, what did Jesus Christ tell his disciples time and time again? Oh, you of little faith. Why didn't you believe? You know, it's like when Jesus was walking on the water. Peter stepped out, and he was walking on water, and Jesus said, oh, you of little faith. Why did you disbelieve? You should have trusted God. You should have believed God. And Jesus had to rescue him. But, you know, when we worry, brethren, it insults God. You know, Jesus urged his disciples four times in Luke 12 not to worry or not to fear. He said, fear not, or don't worry about this or that. Don't even fear what men could do to you. Because God, and you go through, you can read Luke 12, God will take care of you. God's going to watch over you. You don't have to worry. There's no need to worry. That's an insult to God, as though he can't protect us. You know, if he can protect Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who are cast headlong into a fiery furnace and not even sends your eyebrows, you know, he can protect you and me. If he can protect Daniel, the prophet, you know, we had a message about that not long ago, about being thrown in the lion's den. If he could do that, he can do that for you and me. If we believe, if we trust God, if we have faith in him. You know, one of the things that Mr. Freyer was talking about, about, you know, prior to services, is that, you know, back in the 60s and the 70s of the church, we did have tremendous healings within the church. You know, and I believe we still have healings today, maybe not as dramatic, and I think we're going to have healings in the future, much more dramatic. But you know, there were times when Christ could not do miracles because there was a lack of faith. You can, again, study the Bible. That's what it says. He could do no miracles there because there was a lack of faith. And frankly, brethren, with all of the issues the church has faced in these end-of-the-age times, they've been faith killers, too, the things that people have gone through. They've caused people to doubt to be in doubt. But don't doubt, brethren. Don't worry, believe, and stand back and see the miracles that God can do. We certainly want to always remember that. God will take care of us. I remember a young lady back in the 70s that we were in activity one time and her parents came to me. They were very frantic because she had broken her arm. I don't know if she was 11 or 12 years old. I can't remember. But the bone was jutting out. Sorry. Obviously, and they wanted to have her anointed. And I thought, well, you know, I'd certainly be glad to pray for her, but maybe they'd take her to a doctor and have them reset the bone.

I anointed her and asked God to intervene for her. And I just expected they'd go to the emergency room and they'd reset the bone. I got a call from the parents and they said on the way to the emergency room that she was healed and they had to do nothing, nothing at all. And that's one of the few miracles that I remember very distinctly. I remember another one, my pastoral mentor many years ago told me about a man in Kentucky that, you know, was sick. He was anointed. And anyway, he ended up dying. But incredibly, he told me this story. He said that the man was in the morgue and he just sat up and he was resurrected. And he said, the man said, I'm hungry.

But that was a story that just astounded me as a young minister coming into the ministry back in those years. But things like that did happen, brethren. And God can do anything I am convinced totally and completely. Let's go over to Philippians chapter 4. Philippians chapter 4, sometimes our own physical limitations stand on our way. And we don't believe. We got to believe, brethren. Believe God is there. And he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. That's just the truth. That's the way it is. And that's the facts, brethren. That's not feelings. That's what he does. Philippians 4, in verse 6, notice what Paul says here.

In verse 6, he says, be anxious for nothing. Don't worry about anything. You just be settled.

You know, you don't have to get frantic about something. You don't have to fear anything. He says, be anxious for nothing. But in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request be known to God. Just let God know. And stand back and watch the hand of God in your life. Now, there's much I could say about that. And we know that we need to have faith, and we need to have an importuning of faith, where we go back to God, and we keep asking until we get an answer. But we trust God. Faith, brethren, is exercised and strengthened like a muscle. You know, when we work on barbells with our muscles, our muscles get strengthened. When we trust in God, our faith gets strengthened, because He will show us. He will show us His hand is in our life in some way or fashion. I will say this, though. He's not going to show us the way we want it. He'll show us in ways that we'll be convinced that He's there.

I don't know how many times, brethren, I've had people come to me and said, have you ever been burned out as a pastor? And they said, yes, yes, many times, many times. I couldn't even count the number of times I've been burned out. And I've fallen on my knees and asked God to encourage me, and He always did it. So I came back and hit it again. Work, work, work. And, of course, there came a time I got burned out again, and I prayed for it again. But every time God encourages, and He will do that with all of us, brethren. We trust Him. We have our faith in Him, that He will be there for us. And then each time, it'll strengthen our faith when we get an answer. We see God's hand in our lives. But He always does it in ways that surprise me. You know, nothing I necessarily would even expect. But I turn around and I bounce back. And God will do again that for His saints, all of us here in this room.

Point number five, point number five, a bad habit associating with the wrong people. associating with the wrong people.

No, hanging out with the doubters. You know, if you hang out with the doubters, what's going to happen to you? It's going to be a doubter, right? Just the way it works. Let's go to Psalm 1. The Bible does tell us to have discernment about the friends that we choose. Now, by this, we shouldn't be judging people. You know, God is called as the judge people. He's the judge, not us. But He does expect us to use discernment with our friends that we choose, those that we associate with. Let's go to the first chapter of the book of Psalms. Psalm 1 here, and down in verse 1 and 2.

But it says, blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly.

That word blessed, by the way, can mean just happy. You're going to be happier if you don't walk in the way of the ungodly or in the counsel of the ungodly. Nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. Now, that word scornful means people are just negative, that are criticizing up one side and down the other. But His delight is in the law of God, and in His law He meditates day and night. So we're focusing on God's way. We're caught up in the ways of the world.

You know, we need to, again, associate with the right people. And God wants us to, again, choose people that are righteous, that are striving to be righteous, doesn't mean they're perfect, and we should choose people that are striving to get in the right path. Get on the right track.

Let's go to Proverbs 12, Proverbs chapter 12 here. Proverbs 12, Solomon, you know, observed this, and of course he wrote, he was prolifically much a writer of Proverbs. Proverbs are really very important for young people to study. Important for us, but I think certainly for a young person who is trying to establish good character and wisdom in their developing years to do a study, to embark on a study of the Proverbs. Proverbs 12, verse 26 here, it says, the righteous should choose his friends carefully. Be careful about it.

For the way of the wicked leads them astray. Now that's simple enough, isn't it? Choose your friends wisely. Enscribe to be a person who's trying to be an influencer of good to others. Some may be off the track. You be the person that doesn't follow them off the track, but you try to bring them back, you know, as it says, you know, over in Hebrews chapter 10, about how we're to provoke one another to good works, to love and good works. But God wants us to, again, have that mentality. Let's go to chapter 27 over here. So the Bible does tell us again that we should pick our friends wisely and those that we associate with.

You know, we need to have a way that has a future in it, and we want to select people as friends who have a good future themselves, and that is to be in God's kingdom.

You know, we all should be headed in the same direction. In Proverbs 27 verse 17, it says, as iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

We want to be, again, strong enough that we can impact another person, you know, to get them to do the right thing. I know I've had good friends and I've had bad friends, some that, you know, didn't help me an awful lot, that frankly they can add other bad habits if you're not careful.

You need to be careful, again, of who you associate with.

You know, are we with others who sharpen our faith and challenge us to grow spiritually? If we are around complainers, criticizers, gossippers, then our faith is going to be torn down.

Choose friends carefully to help build faith. Point number six, point number six, is relying on yourself.

There's sometimes where people live sometimes lends itself to that mentality, you know, I don't need any help. I can rely on myself. I just do it myself. I'm on one man show.

But, you know, it's like, you know, was it John Don? No man is an island. None of us are an island under ourselves. It was a himming way that for whom the bell toes, that, you know, that all of us are a part of one another. So we're not, you know, to be reliant entirely on ourselves.

You know, self-determination is a part of man's nature. You know, and you see this in little kids, in fact, let me, I want to do it myself. I got to do it myself. That's self-determination. Even Satan tried to tempt Jesus Christ with self-determination. You know, you don't need the Father. Let me, I'll give you the kingdoms of this world. Just fall down and worship me.

Then he could discern for himself. Of course, Jesus knew that wasn't even an option. And he told him, get behind me, Satan. So we can't, again, just rely on ourselves. We live in a world that praises self-reliance. But Jesus did not, in fact, stress that.

He stressed God-reliance, relying on God. I'll tell you why that is the case, which, because it takes faith to rely on God. Now, that doesn't mean you can't do anything, but you need to have, ultimately, your faith in God.

To rely on God, our achievements, our success, blessings, and rewards are no longer about us and our ability. You know, if they were, we would have only ourselves to thank. You know, we'd be a God unto ourselves. But that's not what Jesus taught. What did Jesus say?

He said, I of my own self can do nothing. I can do nothing.

And do we have that mentality? I of my own self, I can't do anything, God. I don't know how to come in. I don't know how to go out. Teach me, God. Show me your way. That is what Jesus Christ taught. Not self-reliance, but God-reliance in your life. It's a terrible habit to get into the mentality that I just do it myself. I don't need anybody else, just me. Some people might say just me and God. That doesn't work either. Because we not only need, you know, God, we need one another. God didn't, you know, call just you and me, call the church. And the church is supposed to help us to grow up to the head, Jesus Christ. And we need one another. We need one another. So, a habit that's bad is self-reliance.

And point number seven here, the final point here on, you know, keeping on a steady course and getting rid of the bad habits is refusing to accept the hope of the Bible. Refusing to accept that hope and believe more in what we think, what we feel, what we envision.

You know, refusing to be optimistic but expecting the worst and refusing to be kept from discouragement. Thinking everything is just dumb luck. You ever thought that in your life? Everything's just dumb luck. Well, it isn't. Everything has a purpose, brethren. And God is with you and has been with you since He called you. You know, if you have the attitude, everything is just dumb luck. Well, that's not faith, is it? It doesn't have anything to do with faith. It shows no faith in God. No trust in God. Let's go to Philippians chapter 4 now. Just a couple more verses here. But in Philippians chapter 4 over here, Paul, once again, in this particular chapter, down in verse 8, he said, finally, brethren, he said, finally, brethren, what's ever things are true, not our feelings, but what ever things are facts, what ever things are noble, Philippians 4a, what ever things are just, what ever things are pure, what ever things are lovely, what ever things are of good report, if there is any virtue, and if there's any praise worthy, meditate on these things.

Then he goes on to say, the things which you have learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.

So again, need to have the hope that's in the Bible, brethren. Trust in that.

Don't let your feelings get in the way. Don't let habits of negativity, other things that want to draw us down like a magnet, so that we don't sail forward, but rather we're shipwrecked in the winds of this world. Now let's go back to Hebrews 11. I want to point out one other particular point in this verse we read earlier. But here in Hebrews 11, it says, Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Let's focus, brethren, on this phrase, the substance of things hoped for.

You know, one of the habits, again, we refuse to receive the hope.

So we have to have hope. And our hope is based upon the promises of God. That simple.

And we have to have absolute faith in that, absolute trust in that, regardless of what we feel.

So here we see a definition of faith.

And faith is that evidence we talked about earlier, and that confidence in our great father. And we have the assurance of hope as well.

And we can have an absolute trust in God to help us achieve our best potential.

Let me ask you, brethren, who else are you going to rely on?

Who else are you going to rely on?

Yourself?

Is that going to get you your hope? No, it won't.

But if you trust in God, the Almighty God that created this vast universe, you could have hope that propels you forward.

But continue, brethren, to have that faith and trust in the hope that God has given us. You know, Jesus came and he proclaimed the gospel, the good news of the coming kingdom of God. Do we believe that? Do we believe God's going to take us there? That we're going to be there? That we're going to make it? That God didn't call you to fail? He called us to succeed, brethren, and to be there in the kingdom of God. So, brethren, if we seek to build a strong faith, and we avoid the habits that are faith killers, we won't be shipwrecked, but we'll maintain a steady course. We keep that faith, brethren, that will help us throughout our lives so that we can achieve the kingdom of God. So, keep on that steady course, and reject those bad habits that we have in this human flesh, and build the good habits that are going to lead to the kingdom of God.