Faith
a Means to a New Beginning
Acts
6:8-15
Jim
Davis
There is much confusion
as to what constitutes faith? What is faith? Where does it originate? Is
it subjective or objective? Does it originate from within or from without?
How is it developed? How can I know my faith is real? Are there different
faiths?
"Obedient to the
Faith"
As we come to the scriptures
for today's lesson we find the word "faith". Previous to Acts 6, the word
"faith" has been used three times in the book of Acts. In Acts 6:7, the
word "faith" is used differently. Notice the three verses from which we
see the word "faith" thus far in the book of Acts.
Acts
3:16
By faith
in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong.
It
is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him that has given
this complete healing to him, as you can all see. (NIV)
Acts 6:5a
This
proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full
of faith and of the Holy Spirit . . . " (NIV)
Acts 6:7
So the
word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly,
and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.
(NIV)
There is A System
of Faith
In Acts 6:7, the word
"faith" is used to refer to something outside of us, " . . . a large
number of priests became obedient to the faith." In this verse,
faith is something we are obedient to. It is something outside of us. It
is referred to as "the faith" to which the priests were obedient.
They were obedient to "the" faith, which means only one faith. They were
not obedient to "the many faiths" or "the faiths"; they were simply obedient
to "the faith".
Jude uses the word "faith"
in this fashion.
Jude
1:3-4
Dear
friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation
we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith
that was once for all entrusted to the saints. For certain men
whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in
among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a
license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
(NIV)
Jude urges Christians
to " . . . contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted
to the saints." He speaks of "the faith" and he indicates that
it was entrusted "once for all". Here we see faith as something
outside ourselves that has been delivered and entrusted to us. This "faith"
is something with which we are entrusted and must contend for.
We also notice that
the faith once delivered can be perverted. The reason we must contend for
the faith is because there are always godless men who are always ready
to change the faith once delivered.
Paul says that
there is one faith.
Ephesians
4:4-6
There
is one body and one Spirit-- just as you were called to one hope when you
were called--one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all,
who is over all and through all and in all. (NIV)
In an age of many
faiths, the Bible reveals only one faith. Today we are encouraged to believe
in ourselves. We formulate our doctrines in unique ways by saying, "Whatever
the mind of man can conceive and believe, he can achieved." We may bring
much of this kind of thinking to the Bible as we endeavor to formulate
our own belief system. But notice that it is a faith conceived in the mind.
It can be no stronger than the individual because its power is derived
from what the person is capable of conceiving and believing. A faith conceived
in my own mind is limited to my powers of conception. The obvious limitations
are real. This kind of faith amounts to a subjective faith based on subjective
beliefs, which I have formulated by my own limited powers of conception.
It does nothing more than make a god out of myself.
The uniqueness of the
statement "a large number of priests became obedient to the faith"
is seen in the fact that they believed in something outside of themselves
that had been delivered to them through the preaching of the apostles.
It was a personal faith solely based on an objective standard of faith
that came through Christ and his apostles.
True Christian Faith
Comes Through Christ
Acts
3:16
By faith
in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong.
It
is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him that has given
this complete healing to him, as you can all see. (NIV)
I notice something
very interesting in this one verse. I notice that there is a subjective
faith, that is, an inward faith; but it is a personal faith that comes
"by faith in the name of Jesus; it is a faith focused on Jesus Christ and
a faith which comes through Christ. Personal faith has to do with placing
our personal trust in the system of faith that comes through Christ.
When faith becomes totally
subjective anything can happen. Of late, there has been some hype over
a cult that is planning mass suicides before the coming of the 21st century.
A leader of the cult movement was interviewed as he made the claim that
the very words coming out of his mouth were the words of God. God was supposedly
speaking through him. In essence, he was asking his followers to place
their faith in him. He wants them to believe what he says as the very word
of God. If they believe in him, they will end up in a mass grave with a
dead end road to eternity.
When we come to the
book of Acts we see the importance of a faith and trust in the name of
Jesus. A personal faith in God comes through Jesus. When Peter and John
healed the lame man at the temple in Acts 3, they proclaimed that he was
given complete healing through the faith that comes through Jesus Christ.
Here we see the power of faith that comes through Jesus Christ, yet the
power resides in what Jesus is capable of doing, not necessarily what I
am capable of understanding and believing. Faith is powerful when it is
placed in the right object regardless of how small the faith of the individual.
Jesus said, "If you have the faith of the size of a mustard seed, you will
remove mountains and nothing shall be impossible for you." A faith in Christ
is not limited to human weakness, but it is a living faith that is unlimited
by the power of Almighty God.
We are supposed to walk
by faith and not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7) If my faith is limited to
what I can conceive and believe, then it is not faith because I am walking
by sight. A few days ago, I saw a blind lady walking down the street. She
wasn't groping her way down the street, it wasn't a casual walk, but it
was a brisk aerobic walk. She was rapidly walking down the sidewalk as
she held her white cane out in front of her. It was such a fast walk, that
initially I wondered if she was pretending to be blind. But a second glance
revealed she was really blind. I thought, "There is a spiritual lesson."
I found myself wishing that I could walk as fast by faith as that woman
was without sight. Faith is a walk without sight; it is stepping into the
will of God, while trusting in the sustaining power of God.
Faith is more than what
I can conceive and believe; it is simply trusting in the revelation and
the power of God in spite of my ability to see. If my faith is limited
to what I can conceive, then it is limited to only what I can see. True
faith takes us beyond what we can see and at times even believe.
Ephesians
1:18-23
I pray
also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may
know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance
in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.
That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted
in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right
hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and
dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age
but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and
appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body,
the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. (NIV)
Retracing Our
Steps to Discover What to Believe
At times we become furious
when someone wants to redirect our faith. It is fearful and intimidating
to be released from what I conceive and believe at any moment. We are so
afraid of where it will lead. Yet, if we are walking hand in hand with
God, it can only lead to higher ground. The Jews in the context of our
passage are having a difficult time giving up what they believe to accept
Christ. Yet, it was essential for them to accept Christ that they might
fully understand what they already believed.
Acts
6:8-15
Now Stephen,
a man full of God's grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs
among the people. Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue
of the Freedmen (as it was called)-- Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well
as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia. These men began to argue with Stephen,
but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he
spoke. Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, "We have heard Stephen
speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God." So they stirred
up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen
and brought him before the Sanhedrin. They produced false witnesses, who
testified, "This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and
against the law. For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth
will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us."
All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they
saw that his face was like the face of an angel. (NIV)
Often it is necessary
to retrace our steps to see where we are so that we might discover where
we need to be. Retracing our steps can shed light on what we already know.
It is in Acts chapter seven that Stephen meets the opposition with the
plain teaching of God's word as he begins to retrace God's redemptive work
from Abraham to Christ. He endeavors to show them that Christ was in God's
plan for them all along. Christ was the ultimate fulfillment of every promise
made to Abraham. Stephen shows how God went about developing a nation from
Abraham's descendants. He reveals the work of Moses as Moses leads their
forefathers out of Egypt. Stephen reminds the Jews that angels gave the
living words Moses received at Mount Sinai. Moses said, "God will send
you a prophet like me from your own people". Stephen was proclaiming that
Jesus was the prophet that God had promised. His proclamation was backed
by the living word given by the angels.
The Jews prided themselves
in being Abraham's descendants and disciples of the law given by Moses,
but Stephen in essence teaches them that in accepting Moses they must accept
Christ. This shook the very foundation of Jewish beliefs, yet Christ was
the only foundation for Jewish teaching.
They accepted Moses'
teaching, but as they studied what Moses said they formulated a subjective
doctrine of beliefs contrary to Moses' teaching. Their doctrine gradually
became subjective in content as they lost sight of the living teaching
once delivered to Moses by angels. To reveal the error of what they considered
sacred made them furious.
Stephen was encouraging
them to accept the teaching once proclaimed by Moses. He was pointing them
back to the beginning of it all, for that is where true faith begins. He
was contending for the faith once delivered to Moses. Their system of faith
came through Moses as angels gave it. It wasn't a subjective standard better
felt than told; it was an objective standard given by God to direct what
was to be held sacred in their hearts. A real Jewish faith was to be guided
by every precept given by Moses. It was only through following Moses teaching
that they would discover the Messiah.
When they refused to
accept what Moses taught about Christ, they were in essence rejecting the
teaching of Moses upon which their faith was supposed to be built. No less
is true in the twentieth century. For our personal faith to be valid today,
it must come through the objective standards given by Christ. It is the
faith that comes through Christ teaching which heals our souls. When we
reject the teaching of Christ, we reject Christ. There is no alternative;
we must accept Christ and all he taught. If we reject anything he taught
we are totally rejecting Christ.
Some take a stance that
says, "Well I don't believe everything in the Bible, but I believe in Jesus
Christ and after all that is really all that matters." It is at this point
that our faith becomes totally subjective as we reject the teaching of
the Bible in favor of our own personal beliefs about Christ. Moses, the
prophets and the apostles of Christ wrote the Bible. To reject the Bible
is to reject it all, including Jesus Christ.
Jesus instructed the
seventy he sent out saying, "He who listens to you listens to me; he who
rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me."
(Luke 10:16 NIV) Believing in Christ is believing in God; it makes little
difference who is proclaiming the message. If it is an apostle of the first
century or a preacher in the twentieth. Jesus said, "I tell you the truth,
whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts
the one who sent me." (John 13:20 NIV)
Jesus states the penalty
for not believing, "There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does
not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the
last day." (John 12:48 NIV) This was also true of the Law of Moses, Moses
would judge these people, for they refused what Moses proclaimed about
Christ.
Thesselonians
4:8
Therefore,
he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives
you his Holy Spirit. (NIV)
Our personal faith becomes
valid when we render obedience to the system of faith delivered to us through
Jesus Christ through the teaching of the apostles. The only way we can
be certain our faith is valid is by retracing our spiritual steps to see
if we have gotten off the spiritual path God has made for us. Only the
word of God can shed light on that path.
Psalms
142:3
When
my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who know my way. In the path
where I walk men have hidden a snare for me. (NIV)
Psalms
16:11
You have
made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand. (NIV)
Psalms
27:11
Teach
me your way, O LORD; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors.
(NIV)
Psalms
77:19
Your
path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your
footprints were not seen. (NIV)
Psalms
119:35
Direct
me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. (NIV)
Psalms
119:105
Your
word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. (NIV)
Conclusion:
Jacob spent all his
life running his life by his own standards. He found nothing but heartache.
After he had swindled himself out of everything near and dear, God appeared
to Jacob and said, "Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar
there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother
Esau."
What Jacob says at this
point is interesting "So Jacob said to his household and to all who were
with him, "Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves
and change your clothes. Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will
build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who
has been with me wherever I have gone." (Genesis 35:1-3 NIV)
God is asking us to
come
and worship him, for he has the word of life. We must retrace our steps
and if necessary, we must allow God to redirect our steps into the paths
of righteousness. It may require cleansing ourselves or our idols and foreign
gods. This is the only answer in our day of distress.
It is essential that
we accept God's plan of salvation once delivered to the saints for all
time, for this is where we discover God's plan for a new a beginning.
Give God's plan of salvation
for the invitation.
