Title: Faith and Waiting
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Today, I will share a sermon with you under the title of ‘Faith and Waiting’.
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1. Faith is standing on the word
Faith is not based on rational thinking. If you keep trying to understand your beliefs rationally, you will run into a great disappointment. No matter how hard we try to understand that God created the heavens and the earth through His Word, we cannot rationally understand it. No matter how rationally I try to understand that a virgin conceived and gave birth to a son, I cannot understand it. It is incomprehensible to rationally and scientifically explain that Jesus rose through the tomb door three days after he died. Faith is standing on the word of God. Because God is the Creator who transcends time, space, and material, there is nothing that God cannot do. Therefore, we should not try to understand what God is doing through narrow human reason or science. What God does is to believe through His Word unconditionally.
Also, faith is not based on feelings in the heart. The feelings in your heart are always changing. There are times when I feel good, times when I feel bad, times when I am at peace, times when I feel anxious, and times when my heart trembles. Your things don't move the way you feel. Doesn't the train leave on time because I feel like it won't leave today? Even if you feel bad, the train leaves. I'm traveling abroad and I'm not in a good mood today, so the plane won't leave. It's not like that. At that time the plane is leaving. A person's mood is the change that occurs in his or her mind, not the environment. That is why faith should never stand on feeling in the heart. Faith is standing in the Word.
Also, faith does not depend on the senses. Faith overcomes the senses, and the senses should not dictate faith.
When Martha and Mary took Jesus to the tomb of Lazarus, her brother had already been in the tomb for four days and smelled rancid. You can see it with your eyes for four days and smell it with your nose and you can smell something rotten. If you rely on your senses, your brother cannot live. But Jesus did not tell us to rely on our senses. “Martha, did you not believe that you would see the glory of God?” The Lord is saying that faith is not a feeling. Even if you suddenly see the dead, believe that you will live. Believe that you will rise despite the smell of rot. So, to overcome the senses and believe is faith, not according to the senses.
2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
Also, belief is not based on circumstances. If we look at the environment and control it, it is not faith. When Peter walks on the water, the environment is not in a position to walk on water. He walked on the dark sea of night, and on the sea, where the storm was blowing and the wind was roaring. He can never walk when he looks at the environment. However, by believing in the Word, you can overcome your circumstances and walk. Therefore, even if your eyes do not see any evidence, your ears do not hear anything, and your hands do not hold anything, it is faith to stand in the Word.
Romans 10:17 “Therefore faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”
2. Abraham's Faith
When Abraham chose knowledge and faith, he left what he knew and chose faith.
Romans 4:19 says, “And when he was a hundred years old, he knew that his body was dead and that Sarah’s womb was dead, but his faith was not weakened.”
Abraham was 100 years old and all his hair fell out. my eyes are not dim I also bend my back. When I wake up in the morning, I do not wake up in a hurry but wake up procrastinating. When he sits, he sits slowly and stands up by relying on a cane. He used to run and run so fast, but now he walks slowly. Heavy objects can no longer be lifted and moved. He realized that he was old in his body. He knows he's a completely old grandfather. it's not that you don't know 'cause I'm not stupid The wife also has a pretty face and wrinkles. And on the body, only the skin remains on the bones. It's been a long time since hard water was cut off. I'm ninety years old. No matter how you look at it, it doesn't create any romantic feelings. I don't even want to hug you. When you get close, you can only hear the bones collide. I know. I suddenly know that my wife is old. Nevertheless, he did not rely on what he knew and believed the word of God. Indeed, Abraham stood and believed in the Word even though his eyes did not see any evidence, his ears did not hear anything, and his hands did not hold anything. And among doubts and beliefs, he decided to give up his doubts and firmly believe.
Romans 4:20 says, “Does not doubt the promises of God through faith, but was strengthened in faith to the glory of God.”
Even Abraham had doubts. Doubts came and went. When he was eighty-five years old, God called Abraham by night to count the stars in the sky, and he had a promise that your descendants would be like this, but doubts arose, and he took Hagar as his concubine and gave birth to Ishmael. As a result, isn't there such a disastrous war going on in the Middle East today? Even Abraham was not without doubts. He believed, but doubts entered him. But the doubts did not linger for long. When doubts come in as guests, they stay in the room for a while and then