Living Faith

Well, I wanted to just point out one verse in Luke chapter 18 to begin the sermon today. Luke chapter 18 is in many ways unique because Luke records a couple of parables here in Luke 18 that aren't recorded in any of the other Gospels. They're not recorded in Matthew or Mark or John, but they're recorded, I'm sure, for a reason. And, you know, there is a study that you can do regarding how it is that Jesus was in constant prayer with the Father, how he was drawing close to the Father. And this first parable in chapter 18 of Luke says, verse 1, Jesus told a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart.

And so obviously that's a very good instruction. Pray always be instant in prayer and not to lose heart. I would guess that perhaps it would be easy to lose heart. It would be easy to, if we do not grow in our relationship with God in prayer, then we might lose heart. We might be discouraged. We might be frustrated. And, of course, this kind of gives an antidote for that. Well, we need to pray always. We need to be reminded of the need to do that.

But I'm not wanting to focus so much on that parable. In the second parable, as I mentioned, verse 9, both of these parables are unique to Luke. But I do want to focus on verse 8. Because Jesus said, after giving the first parable, I tell you, He will quickly grant justice to them, talking about God hearing and God answering our prayers. God's aware of the relationship that we are growing in with Him. And that's not only something we want, that's something He wants too.

But He concludes this verse in verse 8 with a statement that doesn't seem to quite be connected. It says, and yet, when the Son of Man comes, when Jesus returns to the earth, so who could this possibly be directed to?

Well, those people who are alive, right up prior to the time when Jesus returns. He says, so when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth? And I think that's a very good question for all of us who live at a time when we see so many prophecies being fulfilled. When we see things that we have known for maybe decades coming to pass in even a more exaggerated way, certainly we want to be growing in faith.

We want to exemplify faith, and when Christ returns, we want Him to find faith in us. Now, I'm trying to make a connection to what I spoke with all of us about here. It's been a month or a month and a half ago or two, because I was talking about the weightier matters of the law.

And those matters that described in Matthew 23, 23, Jesus said, the weightier matters of the law are judgment, mercy, and faith. And so, obviously, those are things that we ought to study, and we went through a sermon regarding judging or judgment. We went through one regarding mercy that God expects of His children, and today I want to deal with the subject of faith. And yet, in a sense, you think, well, surely most everything you talk about at church should be about faith, and certainly it is, to some degree or in some way.

But I hope that I'm able to cover what I'm able to look at today as something that would be helpful to you in being able to understand faith as one of the weightier matters of the law. And actually give you reason to want to do that. The fact is, our lives, everything that happens to us in our existence over the last decades and scores of years for almost all of us.

We've got some of the younger girls here, and I guess Jack's back there, too, so I'm glad to see him today. They haven't been around that long, but most of us have been around 30, 40, 60, 70, 90 years. But see, the entirety of our lives ought to be an example of living faith. See, not just faith, like I believe something, or not just dead faith that really doesn't do you any good, but I state it as living faith, because I think that's what God really wants to see of all of us.

He wants to see living faith. And so what would you say would be the revealed elements of living faith? See, I want to mention three different things. Now, as I said, you could probably turn to most any page in the Bible, and you could talk about faith. And yet, I'm wanting to focus on a few examples that I think would be significant for us. I want to focus on three elements. One of them is an enemy of faith. Another one is an action of faith.

And then the final one is a definition of faith. See, these are clearly all things the Bible reveals. Clearly, what God wants us to not only be aware of, but be doing, living that faith, so that when Jesus returns, when Jesus returns, then He does find faith on the earth, certainly in those that He has been preparing, and He has been guiding and leading and working with and involved with in our lives. So, I want to begin, as I mentioned, the first one involves an enemy of faith. What would you say there would be several answers you could pretty easily come up with as far as what is an enemy of faith?

Well, the one that I want to focus on is simply called doubt. Doubt is an enemy of faith, an enemy of truly relating to God, truly living a life, a dynamic life, an abundant life of faith. So, let's go over to Matthew chapter 14. Matthew chapter 14, I guess, in this example, it's one that you're familiar with, it's an example of Peter.

Peter walking on the water momentarily. Maybe you should say this is an example of Peter sinking in the water, because that's obviously what did happen.

And yet, the instruction is very clear. Now, this example is, I think it's an interesting one, because you see it recorded in Matthew, you see it, I believe, in Mark and in John. No, actually, I'll take that back. I believe it's in Matthew and Luke and John. And for some reason, this is not included in Mark's account of the Gospel. At least it's not included about Peter sinking in the water. And I would guess that maybe that was an omission that Peter didn't want to emphasize too much.

He probably didn't want. As Mark was actually a student of Peter, it would appear that he wrote much of maybe what Peter preached and what he would have seen with others of the disciples. But obviously, Matthew as a disciple and John as a disciple, and then Luke recording the things that he was recording from the disciples, they would write about this account. But in Mark's account, it mentions being out there and being rescued, but it doesn't mention Peter sinking.

And I think that may have some bearing on all of us as well. So let's think about this enemy of faith called doubt. In verse 22 of Matthew 14, Matthew chapter 14, you see an account of Jesus and the disciples. In verse 22, immediately, this was after he had fed the thousands of people who came to see him.

He was on the shores, I believe, of the Sea of Galilee. I'm not directly seeing that, so that may not be correct. But there were often times when he would be speaking to people around the seashore. But it says in verse 22, yes, this is on the Sea of Galilee. Immediately, he made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead to the other side while he stayed back and dismissed the crowd. And so he had this huge crowd. He had fed thousands of people with a very small number of loaves and fishes.

And then he tells the disciples. In a sense, we might even realize that Jesus was sending them out, perhaps even knowing what he was going to do, knowing what he was going to teach them. But it says he stayed back and dismissed the crowds. And after he dismissed the crowds, in verse 23, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. And so this is another example, a good example, that we see not only for Jesus, but for us. For us. And whatever we do, we need to be instant in prayer. And when evening came, he was there alone. But by this time, in verse 24, the boat, as battered by the waves, was way out from the land, for the wind was against him.

So in a sense, Jesus sent the disciples out in the boat by themselves into a storm, into the wind, into, and of course, being in the boat, I guess, the wind and raising the waves. That could create a real obstacle for them. But Jesus had sent them out there. And it says in verse 25, early, early in the morning, and so sometime in the middle of the night, perhaps, maybe, you know, mid-morning, 3 to 6 in the morning, as we might think of it, very, very early in the morning, he came walking toward them on the water, on the sea.

When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, it's a ghost, you know, we're afraid, we don't know what to do. What is this ghost or apparition doing? You know, we're scared. And so, when they cried out in, or they cried out in fear, it just states, and so they were afraid, immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, take heart, it is I, do not be afraid.

So he identified himself, he said who it is. I think Mr. Myers went through this example and one of the others where it says, I'm here. I am. I'm God. I'm able to help you. You're in a mess, yes. But I can do miracles. I am able to help you. So he says, take heart, or take heart, it's me, it's I, I am, do not be afraid.

And so he tried to calm their fears. And yet in verse 28, as impetuous as Peter often was, and in saying some things, maybe he would even later regret, which is kind of the way Peter did sometimes, Peter answered, Lord, well, if it's you, command us to come out of the boat.

Command me to come to you on the water. Jesus said, well, come. Come on over. So Peter got out of the boat and he started walking on the water. He came toward Jesus. Verse 29 says, Peter walked on the water. Now, it doesn't say how far he walked on the water, but it might have been, you know, several feet, several yards, maybe further.

Who knows? But in verse 30, you see a problem arise. When Peter noticed the strong wind, he noticed that it's raining real hard. It's blowing. It's raining. The waves are kicking up around me. When he noticed the strong wind, when he saw what was going on, he became frightened and began to sink. He cried out and said, Lord, save me!

Of course, at least he realized, well, I'm out here in a good position. I'm walking on the water with the one who can also walk on water. And yet, as he looked at the waves, as he figured out, as he started to walk by sight, that was what he was beginning to do.

When he was starting to look at the physical circumstances, he said, you can't do this. You can't walk on water. You can't ignore the waves and the wind. He began to sink, and he cried out, Lord, save me! And Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, O you of little faith! O you of little faith! Why did you doubt? What was it that caused Peter to doubt? Because he was apparently walking on the water. That's what it says.

It doesn't say how far. But whenever he began to walk by sight, instead of by faith, well, then he started to sink. And of course, Jesus makes this statement that is truly outstanding. O you of little faith! Why did you doubt? Brethren, does that have a message for us today?

Is that something that we ought to think about? If we're going to have living faith? Well, that involves belief. That involves trust. That involves walking by faith and not by sight. See, the doubt that came into Peter's mind was because he began to look at the facts that you can't do this. It's impossible to walk on water unless, of course, it's up north and then where the seas are frozen. You can walk on water there. But this wasn't the case, not in the middle of the Middle East.

It wasn't frozen over. He couldn't slide out there on ice. But what was the problem? Well, he allowed physical factors to cause him to doubt and to be afraid.

That's what we see about what Peter did. And, certainly, he took his mind off of who could help him. He took his mind off of Jesus Christ. And, of course, in a sense, he was crying out to God to help him. He says, Lord, save me. And so, at least he thought of the right thing to say. The right thing to do was to be instant in prayer. The right thing to do was to cry out to God for help.

And, of course, immediately, Jesus did help him. And yet, we might think about, well, why did Peter doubt? Well, because he was not looking at things from a spiritual standpoint. He was looking at things from a physical standpoint. He was looking at things that were factors that, to him, as a physical being, were undeniable. And yet, that's something that we need to think about in the situations that we get in, that we are involved in.

It says that doubt causes us to not have faith, not believe what God is able to do, and to not benefit from that belief. And so, to finish this, Jesus immediately reached out his hand, caught Peter, said, Oh, you of little faith, why do you doubt? And when they got into the boat, Jesus and Peter, the wind stopped, ceased, and those in the boat worshiped him, saying, Truly, you are the Son of God. See, what was Jesus teaching the disciples, and in this case, Peter, maybe even more emphatically?

See, if that had happened to you, if you had walked on water, would you ever not have faith from that time on? Well, we certainly see Peter didn't have faith at other times. He didn't really understand what was going on. He was very limited. He was up and down. And yet, the example is for all of us. And, of course, the whole illustration here is one that focuses on Jesus Christ as the God who was with us in flesh.

He was the one who was able to save Peter. He was the one who was helping the disciples, but he's the one who sent them out in the storm, too. Did he know what he was going to do? And as I mentioned, I don't have this written down, but in Mark's account, you don't see this example of Peter written about. I almost think that Peter probably didn't exaggerate that part of this message. And so Mark didn't write it down.

Matthew wrote it down. He was there. He was watching. John was watching. And yet, we ought to think about, maybe we should even consider, the fact that at times we do doubt. At times we are weak. At times we do struggle. We're up and down.

That's pretty much the way Peter was. He was up and down. And I think sometimes, maybe like Peter, we can be embarrassed to admit that we are struggling, or that we do doubt. And yet here, obviously, the example is for us to learn that, well, doubt is an enemy of faith. And so I want to strive to eliminate that. If I possibly can, I certainly want to realize that even in this example, and even in the experiences that we go through, that would be life events, that each one of us have to go through.

We need to be reminded that, well, living faith is what God is wanting us to be reminded of. He's wanting us to be reminded of living by faith. But see, that is a faith. That is a life. It's a faith that is real. And it's a faith that God can strengthen. I think the disciples were strengthened. They were strengthened whenever they got back to shore, and probably even before they were there, or it seems like in another account, they immediately were there.

You know, either the wind stopped and it was easy to row back over, or if they were immediately over or toward the shore, one or the other, Jesus could do either one. But see, the fact is, we learned from this example not only about the fact that doubt is an enemy of faith, but also we learned what the answer is. Fear and doubt are overcome through faith in Jesus Christ. See, that's what Peter should have learned, and I think that's what all of us should learn, because we have this kind of an example for us to study, for us to read, maybe to think about, whether we even fully understand all of the circumstances.

You have several accounts. It's pretty accurately described. But here it talks about what Peter learned. He learned that his faith was limited. It needed to be strengthened. And of course, he would need that as he and the other disciples would continue to not only live their lives, but devote their lives to the mission of the Church, the mission that Jesus Christ would give them, proclaiming the kingdom of God to the world. That was what the mission of the Church was and is.

That's our mission today, and so we want to do that with living faith. Now, the second thing I mentioned about faith involves an action. The first one involved an enemy. The second one involves an action. Is faith just kind of static? Is it just kind of a feeling? Is it just a belief? Or does it involve action? Well, if we go over to the book of James, James 2, we have an account where... Now, I will tell you that there are more than one statement that we could read, but I'm only going to focus on this one, because the Bible does show us that we are saved by faith.

We are saved through grace. We are saved by faith, and obviously that has to be a beginning point in our Christian development in lives. But it also points out that faith without works is dead. Now, that's what James writes about here in James 2, and he's actually going to use a very outstanding example of faith, which is the faith of Abraham. So let's look at James 2, starting in verse 14. And so this is the action, the action regarding faith.

True faith produces works of service. That's what true faith does. Here in James 2, it says in verse 14, What good is it, brethren, if you say you have faith, but you have no works? Can that faith save you? This is what James is asking. And then he gives an example. If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warmed and filled, and yet you don't supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?

So he says, faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. So James's instruction here is, you know, it's maybe nice to be encouraging to someone, but if they don't have anything to eat or anything to wear, and we don't try to give them something, if we have anything, we can give it to them. You see some examples of that at times, with people who find others in desperate need, and they know, they need clothes, they need something to eat, and I happen to have something that I can give away. So James confers faith without works to expressions of sympathy without giving any help.

And the latter is totally useless. In the same way, faith that exists without works has no value at all. Let's go on in verse 18. Verse 18, someone will say, you have faith and I have works. Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. And so in a sense, James kind of writes about what seems to be a little bit of a conflicted issue. But he describes this by saying, you believe that God is one, and you do well, and even the demons believe, and yet shudder.

Do you want to be shown, O senseless person, that the faith apart from works is barren? Here he describes and gives the example, was not our ancestor, Abraham, justified by his works. When he offered his son Isaac on the altar, and this is an Old Testament example that we get from Genesis 22, it was clearly an action of response to God, of obedience to God. It's what God told Abraham to do with Isaac. He has also told him, it seems conflicted that through Isaac that you're going to have inheritance and inheritors through him for an expansive way. It seemed kind of contradictory. And yet it says Abraham was justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar. You see, that faith was active along with his works, and faith was brought to completion by his works. So he started off with faith. He had faith in God. He believed what God told him, that he would even have a son. It was a long time before God fulfilled that answer, or that answered that directive. But, nonetheless, it was something that Abraham believed, and he was honored because he believed that. It was reckoned unto him as righteousness, it says. Verse 22, you see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was brought to completion by the works. Thus, the Scripture was fulfilled that says Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness, and he was called a friend of God. You see, that a person is justified by works, and not by faith alone. See, this is an understanding that we want to have. Many times people are confused, that, well, you know, I have faith, and so I'm fine. Well, if we have faith that is living, if we have faith that is dynamic and comes from God, then action is involved. Not simply obedience, which God does also require, but see, what kind of works does God want us to have? Well, we heard about one of those works during the sermonette. Fellowshiping in a positive, in an uplifting, a meaningful, a concerned uplifting way with one another when we meet together here on the Sabbath, when we eat together here on the Sabbath, or at other times. That's what God requires. That's a part of our way of life. That's living faith.

And yet, James wanted to use the example of Abraham because everybody understood what it was that Abraham had gone through. And, in essence, James is not comparing faith and works so much, but he's comparing two kinds of faith. That's what James is writing throughout this whole section. He's comparing two types of faith. One type of faith that doesn't produce anything, any works, and a type of faith that does produce works of service. See, that's a type of living faith that we want. That's why faith is way to your matter of the law. That we are having faith in God, believing God, serving God, we obey God, but our faith produces service toward others. Our faith produces that action toward others. So let's go on here in verse 20. I guess I've read a couple of these verses. Let's drop down to verse 23. Thus, the Scripture was fulfilled. Abraham believed God. It was reckoned to him as righteousness. He was called a friend of God. You see, in verse 24, a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. Likewise, it was not Rahab, the prostitute who was justified by works, when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out to another road.

And so, just as the body without the Spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead. See, this is what I'm adding to these three things today. We want to stay away from doubt that would allow us to have living faith. We want to have living faith that produces works of service, because obviously, this is what Abraham did. See, Abraham's faith was respected in two ways. His faith was accepted by God, and he reckoned him to be righteous because of that. That was a belief. And yet, that faith produced righteous works. And they were expressed, even in a willingness, to offer Isaac, knowing that, well, if I kill Isaac, God's going to have to resurrect him from the dead, because he's already promised. I'm going to have descendants that will come through Isaac. And so, we're not going into all of that story, but that is an incredible story and example for us, the kind of faith that God wants us to have is a faith. That causes us to act, to act in works of service, in works of love, in works of caring, of sharing, of honoring. Now, there's so many different directives that you can read about what a Christian is supposed to be, what we're supposed to be like. So, our works or our faith should not be dead. It should be producing works of service.

So, the first one is an enemy, the second one is an action, the third one is a definition. Now, how would you define faith? Well, in some ways that can be very easy, in other words, it can be very difficult. I think most of us probably are familiar with Hebrews 11 verse 1, which it says, faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Now, I know I've read that hundreds of times. That's not a real clear explanation to me, except it's a belief in God's ability to do the impossible, a recognition that God is able to do the impossible. But I want to point out, and I think this might be, in one sense, a little bit simpler way of stating a definition of faith. And I'll just say it's a definition. It's not the or the only definition, because clearly Hebrews 11 1 makes the definitive statement about the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. That is what faith is, and you go through the entirety of the chapter of Hebrews 11, and you see different examples of different people at different times having faith in God, having living faith. But I think you could also say that faith is trust that God will deliver. Faith is trust that God will deliver. Now, I want to be able to elaborate on this and explain it a little bit, because it involves an understanding of submission.

Submission to God. And all of us need to understand submission to God, because in many ways it is a foundational concept that enables us to understand repentance and understand the life that God has called us to live, and even to understand the future that He holds out before us, because He does hold out before us eternal life, but He holds out before us the Kingdom of God. He holds out before us roles of service in that Kingdom. He holds out before us opportunity, whether it's five cities or ten cities. There are so many different descriptions that Jesus uses in parables about the Kingdom of God.

And yet, I think we can correctly say that faith is trust. That God will deliver. And it does involve submission to God's authority.

Now, I want us to go back to 1 Peter, maybe a page or two over from where we are. In 1 Peter, chapter 2, we many times would refer to this section in Scripture regarding observing the Passover service, observing the type of example that Jesus gave as the Lamb of God, the type of service that He provided us in allowing His blood to be shed and in giving us the forgiveness that we so seek. And we often read, verse 21, for this you've been called because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps. And so here He tells us, well, Jesus Christ suffered, and why would we think it unusual that we suffer some as well? He goes on to say, Jesus, talking about Jesus, He committed no sin, no deceit was found in His mouth, and when He was abused, which He was, when He was abused, He didn't return abuse. When He suffered, He didn't threaten those who were causing that abuse or that suffering. But what does it say He did?

He exemplified living faith.

He absolutely knew that God would deliver Him one way or the other.

He doesn't always specify how or what. And sometimes it's even through death.

And yet what it says is that when Jesus was abused, when He suffered, He didn't threaten or try to retaliate or return that same injustice, but it says He entrusted Himself to the one who judges justly or righteously.

So He simply entrusted Himself to God. He realized, and that's of course why, it says in verse 24, He bore our sins in His body on the cross of trees, so that free from sin we might live for righteousness, and by His wounds you are healed. So that's an incredibly complex statement that is made, and yet it is involving faith in God. It is involving the type of faith that Jesus had, and that He lived realizing that, well, God could rescue me, but obviously in His case, God was only going to rescue Him beyond death. He was going to be in the grave three days and three nights, and then He would be rising to be at the right hand of the Father. Then He would be re-glorified with the Father.

And yet, as I mentioned, we often read this section, and yet I don't know if we fully connect this entire passage with why this is the concluding statement.

Why is this kind of the conclusion to the end of this chapter? And what is it about starting up in verse 11?

Starting in verse 11, what is this talking about?

Well, it's talking about a right understanding of God's authority and submission.

See, that's a topic that I think we can study more about, authority and submission, because it's a topic that has direct bearing on every one of us being a part of the family of God. And of course, we're going to find as we read through this that there are different levels or different manners in which this is applied. And I can tell you, as a summary, we are all, each one of us, no matter who we are, male or female, we are all under the subjection of the authority of God. He has, He created us, He has full authority. He and the Son have authority over our lives. We're going to read, it's going to talk about subjection to just civil authority. It's going to talk about, it doesn't go into a lot of detail here, but there's clearly authority that God gives in the home, in the marriage, in families.

There's clearly authority in many different ways that we need to understand how that faith is trusting that God will deliver. Not always demanding our own way, but knowing that God will deliver. Let's jump up to verse 11. What's He talking about before He runs into what we often read down in verse 21? Verse 11, I urge you, beloved, I urge you as aliens and exiles to abstain from the desires of the flesh and that wage war against the soul. So here we're told to get away from the passions of the flesh that corrupt and that are against God's law. Conduct yourself honorably among the Gentiles so that though they malign you as an evildoer, they may see your honorable deeds and glorify God when He comes to judge. So here He's talking about Christians properly interacting with others. Others, if they happen to be Jewish, with those who were non-Jewish. And yet He says in verse 13, for the Lord's sake. For the Lord's sake, in verse 13, accept the authority of every institution ordained for humans. Accept the authority of every human institution, whether that be the emperor as supreme. I would guess if He was writing at the time He was, who was the emperor? Well, there was an emperor in Rome. They were in the Middle East, but the Roman Empire was only beginning to have great dominance and would for the next four or five hundred years. But He says, accept the authority of human institutions, whether of the emperor as supreme or as governors, as sent by Him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right. For it is the will of God that by doing right you should silence the ignorance of the foolish. As servants of God, live as free people, and yet do not use your freedom as a pretext for evil. Honor, in verse 17, He says, honor everyone, love the family of believers, the household of believers, fear God, and honor the emperor. Now here, Peter is talking about the type of submission that Christians were to have on multiple different levels here. Verse 18, He says, those of you who are enslaved, accept the authority of your Master with all deference, not only those who are kind and gentle, but also those who were harsh. For it is the credit to you of being aware of God.

And see, this is the focus that you see. For the Lord's sake, verse 13, for it is the will of God, in verse 15, and in verse 19, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly. If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, what credit is that? But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, then again, you have God's approval. See, this involves our submission to the authority of God, His rule in our lives. And of course, then, He goes on to talk about the perfect example that we already read of Jesus. How that you've been called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving an example that you should follow in His steps. See, fully understanding what Jesus did, and the submission that He had to the will of God in His life, the communion that He had with the Father, the clarity with which He maintained that connection is beyond what any of us actually do. Certainly, it's beyond what I do. I can see it being far, far greater. And yet, that doesn't change the fact that this is what He tells us to do.

And so, we're given an amazing example, and it is talking about authority and administration of authority and submission. And those are things that clearly have to be understood by all of us, but we all have to be in submission to the authority of God. Now, I want to use, as the last example here, an example back in Numbers, Chapter 20. This is an example of a man that, for the most part, you would have to say, this man was incredibly close to God. This man was able to talk to God. He was able to relate to God in a way that no other Israelites were allowed to do. He was used by God to bring the Israelites through the Red Sea. And, of course, I'm talking about Moses. Now, Moses' submission to God was extraordinary. He followed God's instructions. He understood what he said. He strove to do what God said. He often appealed for his compatriots, who he knew were out of line. He says, please don't blot them out. Blot me out. Now, he appealed to God to help the Israelites. And he clearly, it says, I think in Numbers 12.3, was the meekest man on the face of the earth. Again, a goal to seek, not one to run away from. But, see, Moses, in spite of all, and, of course, God happened to give him the Ten Commandments. He happened to give him the law. He happened. And, of course, even in the day of Jesus, the Jews who confronted Jesus were, you know, they were solidly in Moses' tent. You know, they were going to follow Moses. We're not going to follow you. That was an error on their part. But, see, they had studied and they were familiar with, and they understood their genealogy. They understood, in a sense, their responsibility, but they also misunderstood most of what God was wanting them to do. They had a true connection to Moses.

And yet, Moses did something one time. You know, most everything you can read about is pretty positive. But Moses did something one time that kept him from going into the Promised Land.

And this is what we're going to read about here in Numbers, Chapter 20.

This actually is an account of something that was happening toward the end of the 40 years of wandering. He was probably, over and over, frustrated with the Israelites and their disbelief, their unbelief, as it says in Hebrews. Maybe he was exasperated. Maybe he was frustrated. Maybe he actually allowed thoughts to creep into his head of that. He was really more important than he actually was. I don't know. It doesn't directly say why this happened. It just stands out as a very odd thing that Moses did. But I think we can say that this was at least one time when Moses did not submit to the rule of God in his life. Chapter 1, the Israelites, came into the wilderness of Zinn. Verse 2, there was no water. They gathered together against Moses and against Aaron, and the people quarreled with Moses. And of course they complained, why did you bring us out here to die? Well, they'd been wandering around the wilderness for 40 years now. And you would have thought that they could have figured out that, well, God can send manna from heaven, and he can send quail if we need him. That's what's been going on all this time. I wonder if he can send any water. That certainly was a poor argument on the side of the people.

And yet, let's drop down to verse 7. They were arguing with Moses. They were arguing. Actually, later would say they were arguing with God, because they weren't obviously cooperative, but I'm wanting to focus on Moses. The Lord spoke to Moses, verse 7, says, Take the staff, assemble the congregation, have everybody around, you and your brother Aaron, and speak to the rock, command the rock before their eyes to yield its water. Thus, you shall bring water out of the rock for them, and thus you shall provide drink for the congregation and their livestock. So that was God's instruction. Now, God had done this for Moses before. He had done this, actually, pretty close to this same area 40 years earlier. He was told, take your staff and raise it, and I will bring water out of the rock. So I'm pretty sure Moses knew that God could do this.

And yet, Moses took the staff, verse 9, from before the Lord, as he had commanded him. Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly. So they gathered everybody around. They wanted everybody to see. Gathered the assembly before the rock, and he said to them, listen, you rebels! Shall we bring water for you out of this rock?

And Moses lifted up his hand, and he struck the rock twice with his staff. And water came out abundantly in congregation, and their livestock drank.

So the end result was God gave him water anyway. But see, God was not impressed with Moses' apparent error. Because, see, in a sense, Moses let his submission to God slip.

He almost said, and I guess you could say for any of us today, don't you know who I am?

Don't you know what I can do? See, too many times we get into that attitude. Don't you know who I am? That's not a humble, yielded attitude toward God.

But of course the outcome of this in verse 12, not only that they got the water, which God perhaps was going to give them anyway, but Moses forgot that he needed to be yielded to the authority of God.

He let that slip, at least this once. I don't see a lot of record of Moses making bad mistakes. Otherwise, he always seemed to make the right move. And yet in verse 12, the Lord says to Moses and Aaron, because you did not trust in me, and you did not show my holiness before the eyes of the Israelites, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.

See, it almost seemed like, well, what was the big deal? Moses didn't quite follow the instructions. He was supposed to just speak to the rock. He wasn't supposed to beat the rock. And he wasn't supposed to say, do I have to or do I and Aaron have to bring water out of this rock for all you rebels? It almost seems like he was kind of irritated that they were arguing again about not having any water. But see, God makes a point out of this, and he even keeps him out of the Promised Land.

See, that may have a lot of significance as far as the meaning of that, because Moses forgot that I am to be in submission to the authority of God at all times. I never want to denigrate the holiness of God. I don't want to do that. I certainly don't want to attend. I think God could easily read Moses' heart. He could easily read. He could see what happened. He could read his heart. And he said, here in this case, you know, I think in Psalms it talks about this same type of thing. Maybe there's another reference we could go to here. Psalms 106.

Psalms 106. Psalms 102.

Verse 32. This is in a historical account of what happened. In verse 32 it says, Psalm 106, they angered the Lord at the waters of Maribah. This is where this incident in Numbers 20 was taking place. And it went ill with Moses on their account. They made his spirit bitter and he spoke words that were rash.

See, again, God pointed that out, that you are not reacting like I want you to. I told you what to do and that's what I expected you to do and you didn't do it. And so you are not going to be a part of the people who will go into the Promised Land. And, of course, Moses fully understood that. He never brought that up again. He did not plead with God. Even at the time when he was about to die and he could look over into the land, he didn't say anything about how about letting me go over. He didn't say anything. He says, I absolutely know what was wrong with me. In this case, I was not in submission to your authority.

And so he, even though he has a good record and certainly was called to meet this man on earth, you know, it's an example for us to humble ourselves before God at all times. Not just occasionally or when it seems like it might be to our advantage, but at all times. We're to humble ourselves before God and in so doing, whenever we humble ourselves before God and put things in God's hands, see, that's what it says Jesus did. Whenever he was abused and misused, he didn't retaliate. He just put it in God's hands and said, it's up to you. You will deliver me. And see, that was the lesson to Moses. I sure learned. And he, you don't see any dispute about it. It's just that I understand that you judge righteously. So, in regard to the sermon today about faith being a weightier matter of the law, you know, we've covered that doubt is an enemy of faith. So we want to try to diminish that and walk by faith and not by sight. We want to understand that faith is not just stagnant, but it involves our action. It involves our service to others. And finally, as a definition, you know, there probably are other definitions, but thinking that faith is trusting that God will deliver, no matter what. That is what Jesus' example is. And this is actually, if we turn back for the final scripture here to Micah, chapter 6. Micah, chapter 6. In verse 8, we've read this earlier. It correlates with Matthew 23, 23. That says, the weightier matters of the law are judgment, mercy, and faith. Here he says, in verse 8, Micah 6, verse 8, He has told you, O man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to judge righteously, to love, mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

See, that was the example that Moses displayed most of the time. We see one time when he erred. But I only point that out is that we have to continue to ensure that we are learning to be growing in and understanding of our yieldedness to the Father. Our yieldedness to God, our trust in God, and knowing that He will deliver us even if that might be from death. That's what He tells us that we can do. And so, we want to walk humbly with God, and we want to live by faith. The weightier matters of the law are judgment and mercy and faith. And all of us want to exemplify what we read throughout the pages of the Bible, which is walking by faith and not by sight. And when we do that, as we do that, then that is simply living faith.