Understanding and Faith

Faith and Understanding

John 20.1-10

John 20. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

What an emotional morning! Perplexing, filled with excitement... a roller coaster of feelings. Lots of wondering going on in that upper room.

From Hopelessness to wonder and awe and for John, believing but not understanding.

They did not perceive with the eyes or discover, discern from the scriptures what had happened. They saw an empty tomb, they knew Jesus was laid in it, they did not see Him... John believed Jesus was alive by the things he saw, not from God’s Word... more from Who He saw in action. He knew Jesus had died. He was there at the cross. He knew He was put in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. He knew they sealed up the tomb with 2 guards stationed there. He did not believe the body of Jesus was stolen. He believed Jesus was alive based on what He saw and did not see.

“How could anyone see what God is doing in Haiti in the work you are involved in and not believe in Him?” 

-my friend Peter

We see the essence of faith here... believing but not understanding.

Then we have His Word for a true faith.

Hebrews 11.3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

None of  us or anyone else for that matter were there when God created the heavens and the earth.

We have the account in Genesis 1, mentioned in Psalms and Proverbs, John 1... we believe. We know what we are told in His Word. We don’t understand it. Our understanding is to think upon, heed, ponder, consider, perceive with the mind.

Jesus’ Resurrection- faith without understanding at first.

God’s creation- we understand what we see by faith in His Word and we witness it in many forms each day. We have to become like little children as Jesus said.

Matthew 18 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

2 He called a little child to Him, and placed the child among them. 3 And He said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in My name welcomes Me.

Explain Genesis 1 to a child... that is how we are to take it.

Serving, the lowly place.

Believing, not against studying and education... just do not let your education take precedence over this lowly position... or as Mark Twain said, “Don’t let your schooling get in the way of your education.”

I am not against advanced degrees. I am against when those degrees elevate a person so they begin to think they have an edge over the children of God and they tell things that destroy the faith of little ones. Those who cannot take Genesis 1 for what it says need to go back to Sunday School and become like little children. Definitely they should not be destroying the faith of young people. This questioning of the scriptures today... Remember Satan did that with Eve in the Garden. “Did God really say?” Questioning God... Does the Bible really mean a day when it says a day... Does the Bible really mean marriage is between one man and one woman? So that we will not get sued we have had to put that in our church policy. Now we have to be careful here. We can end up hating the sinner rather than the sin. Paul’s words to Timothy... “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst.” I Timothy 1.15

God is looking for childlike faith... Simply believing

Oswald Chambers said, “How are we going to be simple with the simplicity of Jesus? By receiving His Spirit, recognizing and relying upon Him, obeying Him as He brings the Word of God...”

So...

1. You can have faith without understanding. v.9

Peter and John went to the tomb.

John thought it to be true, he was persuaded that Jesus rose from the dead. He place confidence in the Resurrection... even though He did not bring in the scriptures. He saw with His eyes the Empty Tomb. He did see Jesus in the grave as he did on Friday evening.

We have things we use today without understanding...

Technology

Flying on a plane

Furnaces/ Heat Why we need a repair man.

God’s ways

9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)

What was going on here is was an eye witness account of the Resurrection without knowledge of the scriptures, the Old Testament ones like...

Psalm 16.9-10 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;

    my body also will rest secure,
10 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
    nor will you let your holy one see decay.

Isaiah 53.10-11 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer,
    and though the Lord makes His life an offering for sin,
He will see His offspring and prolong his days,
    and the will of the Lord will prosper in His hand.
11 After He has suffered,
    He will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by His knowledge My righteous Servant will justify many,
    and He will bear their iniquities.

Just believe!

I cannot see it. I don’t understand it. You use things all the time you do not understand. This morning people are watching us around the world on iPhones and Andriods and Samsung Galaxies... some on lap tops, some on their Smart TVs. Off this little device from this little church God is multiplying getting His Word out. It is like suddenly there are churches and gatherings all over that can be listened to. I don’t have a clue how this works but I believe it does because people tell me, “Hey I watched your service this week. I began to watch it and am going to finish watching it this evening.” Real Time and because of the technology we have archives or on demand viewing.

2. Faith and Understanding is Better.

The understanding is that which God has disclosed. The resurrection is a miracle.

I Thessalonians 4.13-18

I do not know how God is going to bring the remains of the bodies in the graves and transform them in a twinkling of an eye (1/1,000th of a second) into a body like Christ’s. I know He will. I understand from the scriptures that:

I Corinthians 15.52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

1 John 3:2

2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

There have been those who were above the norm, even among the people of God. The Bereans were like that. They carefully searched the scriptures each day to see if what Paul was teaching was true. They were wise and discerning. The heroes of the faith should be our heroes period. In this day of celebrity Christianity we have our own idols within the church, a dynamic or charismatic preacher, a singer or singing group... I am so thankful my heroes have been people in God’s Word and in His Kingdom who stood firm and saw the times as they really were. Most of my heroes are with the LORD now. David was a man after God’s own heart. God had anointed him wit Samuel doing the honors. He was the king God chose. Some in the nation did not agree. The had someone else in mind, someone from the line of Benjamin rather than the line of Judah. The sons of Issachar got it. We should seek to be like the Bereans and the men of this tribe in these days on the earth.

3. The Sons Of Issachar

 1 Chronicles 12:32

Circumstances were changing as David was about to be crowned King of Israel. Saul was dead and the Benjamites had other ideas about the successor to the throne. But the other tribes were in favor of David as their king, and they had met in Hebron to turn the kingdom of Saul over to him. It was a tense time in Israel, and there was a need for great wisdom to discern those times. At that point, two hundred leaders of the sons of Issachar, who were men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do… (1 Chronicles 12:32).

The word understanding is the Hebrew word binah, which means “to have insight or to act with prudence.” It is a skillful analysis of what something truly means.

The sons of Issachar had analyzed their times and had perceived correctly what those times were all about. They knew what to do because they understood what was happening. It was obvious to them that Saul had not been a good king and there was no established dynasty to keep the kingship in the tribe of Benjamin. David had emerged as a real leader by virtue of his character and ability. He was the type of king Israel needed during those turbulent times. Furthermore, hadn’t God said that the scepter would come out of the tribe of Judah? David was from that tribe and was indeed fully qualified to be the king. The sons of Issachar knew exactly what to do. All of the tribes should get together and crown David as the new King of Israel.

So that needs to be our prayer in our own generation—“LORD, help us to understand the times, and to know what to do.”

Isn’t that our need today? We need understanding from the scriptures, from the Word of God, to know what to do.

The church cannot stand by and do nothing. That is not right. Christ continues to build His church.

The church cannot make excuses. That is not Biblical. That is almost the same as doing nothing but with a conscience soother.

We must stand and fight the good fight of the faith. But first we must understand the times we are in. 

We know these are changing times.

We know these are challenging times.

We know these are chastening times.

We know that always Jesus is need greatly in these times.

God help us today. we want to serve You. We want to see You work.

I am leaving, LORD willing for Haiti on Tuesday, February 20th. Roberto will be filling in for me. I will return on March 2nd.

Coming up Thursday, March 15th... launching a support group for those who have lost loved ones from the Heroin Epidemic.

Easter is Sunday, April 1st. Pray about that Holy Week and that day.

On Saturday, April 21st we will have a time of fellowship, a time of desserts and finger food, inviting people we are praying for. Write down some names. Pray for them. Invite them.

Come on in to the family of God.

Can’t you feel a kind of new excitement here?

You wonder why we look so happy when we talk about the LORD,

It’s because He is more than just religion, 

He is a part of us, So come on into the family of God. 

Come on in we’d love to have you join the family,

It’s a joy to have you with us as we sing our songs of praise

We know that you’ll enjoy the joy you feel around you here  

So come on in to the family of God.

Welcome into the family of God.