The Crisis of Belief • • • •

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Anytime God speaks to you or reveals something to you, that is always your invitation to join God in what he is doing and cares about. What is your crisis of belief? Personal example: Noah’s custody battle in 2001 Summary of past 3 weeks’ messages: I know what our crisis of belief is as a church: “As you go . . . preach . . . cast out demons, heal the sick, etc.” We’ve heard the Lord’s invitation and RSVPed that we would accept the call, but now the test. Where the “rubber meets the road”. Do you believe this is God speaking to you and us? How will we respond? Crisis: an unstable or uncertain time or state of affairs, the outcome of which will have a major impact; the turning point for better or worse in a hectic situation. “The word “crisis” comes from a word that means “decision”. The same Greek word is often translated judgment. The crisis of belief is a turning point where you must make a decision. You must decide what you believe about God. How you respond at this turning point will determine whether you go on to be involved with God in something God-sized that only He can do, or whether you will continue to go your own way and miss what God has purposed for your life. This is not a one-time experience. It is a daily experience. How you live your life is a testimony of what you believe about God. -- H. Blackaby

o Mark 16:9-14 When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. 10 She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. 11 When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it. 12 Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. 13 These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either. 14 Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. NIV “God’s invitation for you to work with Him always leads you to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action.” •

Examples of turning points in Scripture: o Joshua and the walls of Jericho o Gideon and his 300 men: he had 32,000 men to take on a multi-national force, but he sent 31,700 home.

o David and the Philistines: David never relied on yesterdays guidance to determine what he would do today. “This is a good example of how God wants you to depend on Him – not a method or program. What worked yesterday, or in some other church, may not be what God wants to use today. o Peter, a fish, and taxes (Matt. 17:24) Four Principles: (timeless and without exception) 1. An encounter with God requires faith. 2. Encounters with God are God-sized. 3. What you do in response to God’s revelation (invitation) reveals what you believe about God. 4. True faith requires action.

1. An encounter with God requires faith. o “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Heb. 11:1) o Faith is confidence that what God has promised or said will come to pass. o “We live by faith, not by sight.” (2 Cor. 5:7) -- What is an opposite of faith? Living by what we see. o Paul said, “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.” (1 Cor. 2:4-5) – On what should we base our faith? On what should we NOT base our faith? o “Your faith does not rest in a concept or an idea. Faith must be in a PERSON – God Himself. If you or someone else decides something would be nice to have happen and then leads people to “believe” or “have faith”, you are in a dangerous position. Faith is only valid in God and what He says He is purposing to do. If the thing you expect to happen is from you and not God, then you must depend on what you can do. Before you call yourself, your family, or your church to exercise faith, be sure you have heard a word from God.” -- H. Blackaby o Why is faith so important? “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone that comes to him must believe that He exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek Him.” 2. Encounters with God are God-sized.

o “God is interested in people coming to know Him, and the only way people will know what God is like is when they see Him at work. They know His nature when they see His nature expressed in His activity.” o “What our world is often seeing in our day is a devoted, committed Christian serving God. But, they are not seeing God. They comment on what we are doing, ‘Well, there’s a wonderful, dedicated, committed group of people serving God.’ They, however, do not see anything happening that can only be explained in terms of the activity of God. Why? Because, we are not attempting anything that only God can do.” -- H. Blackaby o When God’s people and the world see something happen that only God can do, they come to know God. o Moses and the Red Sea: “I will gain glory for myself through Pharoah and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” (Ex. 14:4) The result: “When the Israelites saw the great power the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him.” (Ex. 14:31) o God commanded Joshua to lead the Israelites across the Jordan River at flood stage. Why? “He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you [Israel] might always fear the Lord your God.” (Josh. 4:24) o 3 in the fiery furnace: Before being thrown in a blazing furnace, they said, “The God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand.” (Dan. 3:17) After God saved them, King Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants . . . Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.” (Dan. 3:28-29) This pagan king wrote to the whole nation, “It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me. How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders!” (Dan. 4:2-3) o “The world comes to know God when they see God’s nature expressed through His activity. When God starts to work, He accomplishes something that only he can do. When God does that, both God’s people and the world come to know Him in ways they have never known Him before. That is why God gives Godsized assignments to His people.” -- H. Blackaby 3. What you do in response to God’s invitation reveals what you believe about God (regardless of what you say). o o o o

David and Goliath vs. Sarai and her son Sarai’s belief about God was limited by her own human reason. Unbelief is very costly! Centurion’s faith: What did the centurion do to demonstrate his faith? Matt 8:5-11 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 "Lord," he said, "my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering."

Jesus said to him, "I will go and heal him." The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard this, he was astonished and said to those following him, "I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. o Disciples in a storm: What did the disciples do to demonstrate their “little faith” in the middle of this storm? Matt 8:23-27 Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24 Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!" He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!" 4. True faith requires action. o “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” (James 2:26) When you face a crisis of belief, what you do demonstrates what you believe. Faith without action is dead! o Examples from “the Hall of Faith” in Hebrews 11: (notice the ‘action’ verbs) o Abel offered a righteous sacrifice to God. o Enoch pleased God by earnestly seeking Him. o Noah built an ark to save his family. o Abraham made his home in a foreign country, followed God without knowing where he was going, and offered Isaac as a sacrifice. o Moses chose to be mistreated along with God’s people, left Egypt, and kept the Passover. o The Israelites passed through the Red Sea on dry ground and marched around the walls of Jericho. o Rahab welcomed and hid the Israelite spies. Heb 11:32-12:3 32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 37 They were stoned; they

were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated- 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. 39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 40 God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

Hebrews 12 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. NIV o “Outward appearances of success do not always indicate faith, and outward appearances of failure do not always indicate lack of faith. A faithful servant is one that does what his Master tells him, whatever the outcome may be. Just like Jesus – He endured the cross, but now He is seated near the very throne of God!” -- H. Blackaby