Hebrews 12:2 – Ladder of Faith – Bible study

Hebrews 12:2 Ladder of Faith Faith – The Bible teaches us many things about this grace. As Christians, we must know something about faith for we cannot become Christians without it. Did you know that there are degrees of faith? The first two references in the New Testament to faith. Mt 6:30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of LITTLE faith? Mt 8:10 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so GREAT faith, no, not in Israel. Did you know that it is possible for you faith to lapse, perhaps even to fail? Heb 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) Did you know that the Lords voiced concern that faith might not exist when He returns? Lu 18:8 I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? As Christians, we must examine our faith to see if it is a great faith or little faith, a wavering faith or perhaps no faith at all. And where ever we find our faith, we must increase. How? By looking unto Jesus \#Heb 12:2\. I believe there are five levels or rungs of faith. Lets consider them. I. Subsisting Faith A. I have no Bible verse for this kind of faith because it is not spiritual in nature. B. Every human being must have some level of faith to function in this world. 1. It takes faith to get into car. (Faith in the mechanical structure of the automobile; faith in their driving skills, faith in the driving skills of the others on the road!) 2. It takes faith to get married (faithful), to work a job (will they pay you), to eat food prepared or grown by others. C. People who do not have subsisting faith have great fear. 1. Some are fearful to leave home, of the night, of possibilities, and a thousand other things. 2. I am not saying having a fear is a weakness or a sin. We all have some fears, but some are paralyzed by fear. a. I knew a lady who for a time was scared of the night. She could not sleep and would be fearful if left alone. Thankfully, this was a temporary condition brought on by a chemical imbalance. It took some time, but eventually, her body healed and she is fine today. b. I knew another lady who was afraid of possibilities. She was afraid the worst would happen. She has always been functional, but the fear was there. c. Many have fears, some rational and some not. (1) Some were born with them. (2) For others, life experiences have given them their fears. (3) They have panic attacks, need tranquilizers, attend counseling. d. I am not saying any of these are sinful, just that they point to a deficiency in faith that will cause problems in life. 3. This is not the way God created humans to beand especially not Christians. 2Ti 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. D. But this people lack subsisting faith. They cannot trust God, or anyone, or anything. 1. I pray that you are not in that shape this morning. 2. Your very presence here would indicate that you are not, but if you struggle with fear of life, trust God. II. Saving Faith A. As important and necessary as subsisting faith is, it takes even more faith to be saved. B. No one can be saved without faith. 1. There are two requirements for salvation. a. Repentance b. Faith – We must believe that Jesus is who said He was, that He did what He said He would do, and that He will do for you what He has promised to do. 2. Without faith, no one can be saved. Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 3. The Bible tells us of one who lacked saving faith. Luke 18:18 And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 23 And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich. a. This man was no fool. He preceived two important things. (1) That his works would not save him. (2) That Jesus somehow could. b. Even so, this man did not trust Jesus. (1) He was a wealthy man and was used to trusting his wealth. (2) He walked away sorrowful. (3) Apparently, he could not trust that Jesus could do a better job carrying for him than his money could! (4) We are not told this mans name or given much information about him, but he is a real soulone of the first to reject Jesus Christ. c. And why is that? Because he lacked saving faith. III. Sacrificing Faith A. Now lets go up another step to sacrificing faith. 1. Just because a person is able to trust God for salvation does not mean that his journey in faith is complete. In fact, it is far from it. 2. God gave much to save us. 3. After salvation, God wants us to give some things to Him. B. We should all know that we are not saved by our works, but after we are saved, we are give God our works. 1. That means sacrifice. 2. We give our talents, out time, our money. 3. But these gifts are all given by faith, believing that God will bless us as we give and bless what we give for His glory. C. Sadly, many Christians lack this faith, as did Ananias and his wife, Sapphira. 1. Some question this couples salvation, but I see no cause to doubt it. In fact, considering how God dealt with them, I would say they were certainly His. 2. This family like Barnabas and probably all of the other land owners in Jerusalem, were being lead by God to sell their land and use the money to help other and to further the gospel. a. Why? b. Most likely because the Holy Spirit knew that by Acts 8, the persecutions would drive all Christians out of Jerusalem and all their possessions would be lost. c. By obeying the Holy Ghost now, their possession and obedience would earn them eternal rewards. d. Like the other Christians in Jerusalem, this family heard the voice of God, but could not bring themselves to trust God. e. They decided to keep back part of the money as an emergency fund. f. They lacked sacrificial faith! They could not give up everything and trust God. D. Churches are filled with Christians who will not tithe, will not pray, will not knock on doors, or pass out tracts, will not use their time or talents for Jesus! 1. Is that you? 2. Take another step of faith. You trusted Jesus for your soul. Now trust Him to bless and care for you. IV. Serving Faith A. Yet another rung up on the faith ladder. 1. I am speaking here of full-time service. 2. Please dont misunderstand me. a. I know that any sacrifice you make for Jesus is serving. b. And I know that most Christians serve without quitting their careers. c. However, it does take a different kind of faith to leave your houses, lands, jobs, and even your family to serve God. B. Hear me well. God does not call everyone into full-time service. If God does call you and you attempt it, you have called yourself. That is certainly a presumptuous thing to do. Yet, God does call some. C. To be blunt, there are simply too many works lacking workers today. 1. In 2014, 4,000 churches closed their doors last year. 2. 3,500 people stop attending church every day. 3. There are 1/2 as many church today as 100 years ago and 1/3 as many as in 1950. 4. In 2014, the United States was the 2nd largest mission field, receiving missionaries from other countries. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/christiancrier/2013/10/26/why-we-are- losing-so-many-churches-in-the-united-states/ D. Never have the words of Jesus been truer for America. Luke 10:2 Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest. 1. Why are laborers so few and far between? 2. Because our people lack serving faith. E. Such was the case with John Mark. 1. John Mark set out on the first missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas, but he quit. Ac 13:13 Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem. 2. No one knows why. a. Perhaps to him it was a safety issue. b. Perhaps it was the level of strain. c. Perhaps he was just not spiritually up to the task. 3. Regardless of what his reason was, it was a matter of lacking service faith. "A faith that fizzles before the finish had a fatal flaw from the first." F. Do you have that kind of faith? If not, take another step up on the ladder of faith. V. Sacrificial Faith A. I think this is the highest level of faith. 1. I know this sounds like the kind of faith I already mentioned, but it is different. 2. Sacrificial faith is the faith to give your life as a sacrifice. B. To understand this kind of faith we need to contrast it with Soldiering Faith. 1. A Soldiers Faith is the faith to die fighting. 2. A soldier believes has faith that some things are worth dying forand I salute every soldier and what they serve for. 3. Yet, there is a faith above Soldiering Faith. It is Sacrificial Faith. C. On the night of Jesus arrest, Peter had Soldiering Faith. 1. Peter would have gone down fighting for Jesus. 2. He had a sword. He pulled it out. He engaged in battle until Jesus stopped him. 3. Peter was brave and courageous and willing to die with Jesusas a soldier. 4. But when Peter saw Jesus walking to the cross, as a lamb before his shearers is dumbhis courage turned to fear. a. You see, it takes one kind of faith to go down swinging. b. It takes another to lay down on the altar and be a sacrifice. D. That is the faith that Jesus has called us to have. A faith that will walk up the burning stake, stand against the firing squad wall, rest our necks on the guillotines rack, lay our bodies on the wooden cross. Will God actually call upon all of us to lay down our lives for Him? I dont think so, but I believe it may well call on some of us to do so. Should we volunteer? No. Probably not. But neither should we fear or renounce our Lord. We need to climb up the ladder of faith and be willing to do whatever is necessary for our Lord. After all, He, the Author and Finisher of our faith, endured the cross for us!