Note before sharing the sermon: this is a message I can get behind (if you've been following other recent commentaries I have been sharing about my church's sermons) and in fact have been getting behind. Going back to the message comparing and contrasting the different types of faith -- Abraham-level faith vs. Thomas-level faith vs. John-level faith -- while I identify with Thomas in a lot of ways, I also have been connecting with what my pastor also said about John-level faith. God indeed does make a way for those who only have Thomas-level faith. It's why I've been working in earnest lately to get into God's Word each day and grow in knowledge of Him. And it's not just because my pastor says so; last decade I felt various different promptings by the Holy Spirit to get into His Word because, frankly, I wasn't. I came to worship band rehearsal at my former church one evening and saw a Bible (not mine) sitting on my music stand. To the untrained eye, it would appear as if someone had left it there and forgot it. However, spiritually a different message came across: you need to get back into reading this. And it was true; although I had gotten baptized and publicly declared my faith in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior back on December 1, 2013, I then inexplicably stopped reading my Bible for an entire year after that. (Ironic as it came on the heels of my last successful read-through for an entire year!) Looking back, I had gotten off track, not just in not reading my Bible, but in a shifting of my faith off God and onto other things. I was in a season of incredible healing which He was leading me through, but I started attributing the good things in my life at the time not to the Lord but rather to the people and the blessings themselves.
In 2017, after I was going through a wave of intense trial and challenge, I felt prompted to read through the book of Proverbs and really get to know it. I did, but I didn't get very far (I think I dropped off about ten chapters in). I did soak up a couple key verses, which really showed themselves to be kind of mission statements in and of themselves for this endeavor:
The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. Proverbs 4:7, NIV
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23, NIV
I also did have my concerns about King Solomon who had written most of these, as he ended up doing what was evil in God's eyes after starting so well. But the sense I had gotten was that, despite Solomon's multitudinous sins, the wisdom contained in the book of Proverbs was still valuable for my instruction. I read through the whole book a few weeks ago as part of my reading program this year with The Bible Recap. One piece of feedback that they provide for all participants of the Bible reading program is that these proverbs are general guidelines for right living based on the experiences of folks who were alive at the time, not commandments, and not promises. I thought that that was really encouraging, and interestingly, it drew me in further to the book of Proverbs vs. before.
Although merely reading and studying the Word of God will not bring you salvation -- you still have to make that conscious choice to publicly receive Jesus Christ as your Savior and publicly declare His Lordship over your life (and then make every effort to surrender your plans in favor of His) -- spending time in the Word is guaranteed to grow and develop the faith in Him that you already do have.
Offertory scripture:
Deuteronomy 28:12-13
The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none. The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God that I give you this day and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.
Reminder: James 1:22
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
Thesis: True Freedom
Faith is substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not yet seen.
As great as our country is with the freedoms we have, no country can truly make you free, or take away your guilt or pain, etc.
Point #1: God’s Word brings freedom.
Numbers 23:19
God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?
John 8:32
Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 17:17
Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Romans 10:17
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.
The truth of the Word of God will make you free from guilt and fear, among other things.
2 Timothy 1:7
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
Romans 5:5
And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Romans 12:2
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
The more you get into the Word of God, the freer you’ll be.
The enemy will try to stop you from reading the Word of God for this very reason: God’s Word will keep you from being enslaved.
Point #2: Jesus Christ brings freedom.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Colossians 1:13–14
For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Isaiah 61:1
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,because the Lord has anointed meto proclaim good news to the poor.He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,to proclaim freedom for the captivesand release from darkness for the prisoners,
Jesus will free you from bondage, no matter what bondage.
Point #3: The Holy Spirit gives you freedom.
2 Corinthians 3:17
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
The Holy Spirit leads us to Jesus.
If you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more does your Heavenly Father give you the Holy Spirit if you ask Him. (Matthew 7:11, NIV)
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