7.25.10 (Pastor Eli) - FAITH (Part I: Saving Faith)
Everybody has faith in something. You have faith that the button on your jeans is going to hold your pants up. You have faith that tomorrow gravity will hold you down so you don't float away.
Hebrews 11:6 says that it is impossible to please God without faith.
What does this mean?
This means that God is happy when we have faith and that we can't make him happy without it. Just trying to be a "good person" doesn't make God happy. Does it make him unhappy if we are good people? of course not! But that's not enough on it's own.
So what kind of faith does God want us to have?
Luke 17:12-19 talks about ten men who had leprosy, which is a disease that attacks your nerves and damages your skin. These men had heard about what Jesus had been doing and how he had been healing other people.
Because they were sick, these men had to live outside of the town, separated from everybody. But they heard that Jesus was coming and they shouted out to him, saying "Jesus, help us!"
This showed that they had faith that Jesus could help them. You don't ask for something if you don't expect to get it. They had faith in Jesus as a healer. He can heal us physically, heal our hearts, and repair anything in our lives that needs fixing.
Now, Jesus could have just healed them and said "TA DA, You're healed!" but he didn't. He told them to go show themselves to the priests. In that time the priests were the ones who could tell if you were sick or well.
As the men were on their way, their bodies were cleared of the disease. One of the men noticed and turned around, running back to Jesus. I imagine him running and shouting like crazy. He praised God because Jesus had healed him. What was interesting is that one man was not from the same place and culture as Jesus. As a matter of fact, his people (Samaritans) and Jesus's people (Jews) didn't always like each other.
Jesus said, "Weren't there ten of you?" It sounds like he was kind of surprised that the only one who came back was the Samaritan.
Jesus tells the man that his faith has healed and saved him.
So........ what do we get from this?
These men had faith in Jesus as a healer. Jesus asked them to walk in that faith and be obedient to go do what he asked. He can heal us, just like he healed those men when we are obedient to his word.
But having faith in Jesus as a healer is only half the faith he wanted to see. Jesus told the one Samaritan that his faith had also saved him. Ten received healing. One received his salvation. Sometimes people are blessed and they get good things from God, but they don't get the whole package. We have to praise God for what Jesus has done for us and have faith that Jesus is not only our healer, but our Savior.
Everybody has faith in something. You have faith that the button on your jeans is going to hold your pants up. You have faith that tomorrow gravity will hold you down so you don't float away.
Hebrews 11:6 says that it is impossible to please God without faith.
What does this mean?
This means that God is happy when we have faith and that we can't make him happy without it. Just trying to be a "good person" doesn't make God happy. Does it make him unhappy if we are good people? of course not! But that's not enough on it's own.
So what kind of faith does God want us to have?
Luke 17:12-19 talks about ten men who had leprosy, which is a disease that attacks your nerves and damages your skin. These men had heard about what Jesus had been doing and how he had been healing other people.
Because they were sick, these men had to live outside of the town, separated from everybody. But they heard that Jesus was coming and they shouted out to him, saying "Jesus, help us!"
This showed that they had faith that Jesus could help them. You don't ask for something if you don't expect to get it. They had faith in Jesus as a healer. He can heal us physically, heal our hearts, and repair anything in our lives that needs fixing.
Now, Jesus could have just healed them and said "TA DA, You're healed!" but he didn't. He told them to go show themselves to the priests. In that time the priests were the ones who could tell if you were sick or well.
As the men were on their way, their bodies were cleared of the disease. One of the men noticed and turned around, running back to Jesus. I imagine him running and shouting like crazy. He praised God because Jesus had healed him. What was interesting is that one man was not from the same place and culture as Jesus. As a matter of fact, his people (Samaritans) and Jesus's people (Jews) didn't always like each other.
Jesus said, "Weren't there ten of you?" It sounds like he was kind of surprised that the only one who came back was the Samaritan.
Jesus tells the man that his faith has healed and saved him.
So........ what do we get from this?
These men had faith in Jesus as a healer. Jesus asked them to walk in that faith and be obedient to go do what he asked. He can heal us, just like he healed those men when we are obedient to his word.
But having faith in Jesus as a healer is only half the faith he wanted to see. Jesus told the one Samaritan that his faith had also saved him. Ten received healing. One received his salvation. Sometimes people are blessed and they get good things from God, but they don't get the whole package. We have to praise God for what Jesus has done for us and have faith that Jesus is not only our healer, but our Savior.
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