Sermon Title: Make Your Faith Work!
“In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” (Ephesians 6:16)
Dearly Beloved,
Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
To take up our shields of faith – which is, to “live by faith” (2 Corinthians 5:7) - requires us to know the steps necessary to ‘work’ our faith.
Our faith in the Lord must not only have substance, it must be lived out intentionally; and put to work.
Faith is a spiritual muscle that must be exercised; and only through the resolute and disciplined nurturing of faith can it ever become a habit and lifestyle that is so critical and essential to the life of a believer of Christ.
Faith must be made to work so that we will always have the necessary faith to keep us on track and on task to fulfill God’s Call and Commission upon our lives.
“Without faith, it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6)
Every Christian must know the steps required to make faith work; and we are precisely shown in this account in 2 Kings 4:1-7 how our faith must be taken up, lived out and made to work.
2 Kings 4:1-7 - The Widow’s Olive Oil
4 The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”
2 Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”
“Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.”
3 Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. 4 Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.”
5 She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. 6 When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.”
But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.
7 She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”
Making Your faith work!
(1) Be quick and willing to approach God's agent in your life;
The widow knew that only God can help her; so she approached Elisha.
Make prayer to God your first response to any circumstance; not your last resort.
God created us to be in community; and we each have our special function within the body of Christ. (Ref: Romans 12:4)
It is within His divine design of love and community that led the widow to Elisha.
As your Pastor, I am here to share and sojourn through life with you – with the specific task of pointing you to the Presence, Purpose and Power of God; through divine guidance from His Holy Spirit and His Holy Scriptures.
The widow cried out to Elisha, and experienced God’s miraculous protection and providence; do not cut disregard or forego what God can do through you in every circumstance.
I am here for you; to remind you – that God, is here for you.
(2) Know what your immediate needs are; but keep in view what your most important need is.
The widow was desperate to keep her family together, but her needs were beyond simply saving her sons from the debtors.
It is clear that she would be faced with many more problems even if this challenge was resolved.
In spite of how tragic her current circumstance is, her family’s existence without God will be a greater tragedy.
With the Lord, it is not only about providing for our immediate needs, but for our ultimate need – the knowledge of His Salvation through Christ.
All of life’s needs point to our utter need for Christ.
Our failures and inadequacies might seem to be physical in nature; but the source of which is truly spiritual – which is why Christ revealed in Mark 2:17 that, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
Our ultimate need is to be restored to the righteousness of God – through Christ’s finished work of atonement in our place at the Cross of Calvary.
Every divine response of healing, providence and protection serves to lead us to the deepest truth of God’s saving grace through Christ.
Do not fixate on the healing, providence or the protection; but fix your eyes on the Divine Healer, Provider and Protector - Jesus Christ; and you will realise that all your needs will be categorically and completely met the moment you give your life to Christ and are “born again.” (Ref: John 3:3)
If you can trust Jesus with the eternal well-being of your soul, you can trust Jesus with everything in this life.
To the truly thoughtful: to be saved from spiritual death is our greatest need; which is why God “gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
Every immediate need in life points to our need for God’s salvation through Christ.
When the saving knowledge of Christ becomes our anchor point, we would certainly be more assured that our Lord has already taken care of everything else – even before the problem becomes such.
(3) Acknowledge all that God has already given you; with the Lord, nothing is always something.
The widow was quick to think that she had nothing at all.
However, she realised that that was certainly not the case – she had something after all.
She came before the Lord for help in her time of need; and the Lord showed her that - although small - what she needed to start resolving her big problem was already in her hand.
Look for what you already have.
Be thankful always. It may be small, but God can increase it!
Always come before the Lord with a heart of profound thanksgiving for all that He has already provided unto you; and be prepared that the Lord will turn your ‘nothing much’ into ‘something great’ for His glory sake!
(4) Wait for clear instructions; with a heart prepared to fully obey.
The widow sought Elisha’s help; with a heart to fully see through his every instruction.
In the absence of divine instructions, wait upon the Lord.
When seeking God’s guidance, are you constantly quick to assume what God wants you to do? Or perhaps how God wants you to do it?
Is it God you are truly seeking, or a soothing of your conscience through faithless acts that attempt to pass off as divine instructions?
How many times have you been needlessly disillusioned when all along, you played right into the devil’s schemes; acting on your own anxieties and wickedly blaming God for every mishap that grows from the fiery pits of dissension.
The Lord is always clear in His instructions for us.
With a heart prepared to fully obey, wait for clear instructions from the Lord.
Reject the voices of evil; especially those in your own mind insidiously provoking you to move ahead of, and away from, the Lord.
You needlessly walk alone when you do.
His time, and timing, is perfect.
When we receive precise instructions from Him, there is simply no room for guesswork, nor for anxiety; only an exact certainty of who He is and what we must do,.
Cultivate a heart that is prepared to fully, and solely, obey Him.
Walk only with the Lord; and with every step, your faith would increase with every guidance from Him.
(5) Be fully obedient
Gratitude activates faith; obedience grows it
Imagine as the widow pours from the small jar of oil and experience firsthand as it begins to fill the much bigger jar.
What would become of her?
Her faith and confidence would keep increasing with every jar filled!
In fullest obedience, the widow did not go beyond Elisha’s last instruction.
In fact, her faithful obedience to the Lord was so absolute that even after every jar was filled, she returned to the Prophet Elisha for further instructions; thereby receiving the blessing of not only the means to repay the debt, but the means to “live on what is left.” (2 Kings 4:7)
She was not presumptuous; she was patient.
Although it was her problem, she never took the problem into her own hands; choosing instead, to give it to the Lord.
Her only consideration was to receive precise instructions from the Lord through the Prophet till such time the matter has been fully resolved.
In our arrogance, how often have we disobeyed God by not obeying Him fully or by our willful delay in obeying Him?
Have you ever shortchanged yourself on God’s fullest blessings because you have simply decided to move ahead of the Lord and take matter into your own hands?
Remember.
Partial obedience, along with delayed obedience – is disobedience.
Wait upon the Lord for the complete resolution of your request; and enjoy the complete blessing that God has in store for you.
Faithfulness to God is expressed by our unwavering willingness to wait only upon Him, to hear only from Him and be fully obedient to Him
God, alone, multiplies our faith; if only we are willing to pour it out.
As long as we are willing to exercise and employ it, God will multiply even our smallest of faith.
The Apostle Paul declares in Ephesians 3:20,
“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us”
God’s blessing is unlimited.
In faith, we embraced God’s Call for us to come to Canada.
We arrived on the 27th November of 2010 having liquidated most of our assets in order to fulfill a government requirement. The monies required was to be placed in a Canadian bank account. We had enough to sustain ourselves for a year for a course that had a duration of three years.
By God's grace, I completed the course in less than two years. Having paid all the tuition fees and our family’s living expenses for the duration of my studies, that bank account held precisely the same amount that we had when we first arrived here in Canada.
The more of your life – your time and resources - that you avail and bring before the Lord, the more He will multiply your faith in Him, and fill your life with “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.”
Such is the reward of the widow’s faith and obedience:
- By God’s amazing grace, her family was saved;
- By God’s amazing providence, she was to ”live on what is left”; which meant that for the rest of their lives, the Lord provided for them.
- By God’s amazing design, till this day, He is glorified through the family’s testimony.
Walk daily in absolute, faithful obedience with the Lord; and receive the ultimate blessing of His Saving Grace!
Make Your Faith Work!
Shalom.
Let us pray.
Our Father in Heaven.
Hallowed be Your Name.
Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done; on earth, as it is in heaven.
Lord, thank You for revealing to me that my greatest need is for Your Salvation!
Thank You for granting me pardon for my sin; and an enduring, everlasting peace – through Christ Jesus my Lord.
Thank You for Your strength today and bright hope for tomorrow – through the Power of the Holy Spirit upon me.
Indeed, great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed thy hand hath provided.
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
Help me to daily make my faith work, O Lord!
That I may resolutely exercise and nurture my faith in You; daily manifesting Your Spirit’s Power to be ever on-track and on-task to fulfill Your Call and Commission over my life.
Help me be ever so quick and willing to come before You in every circumstance; that in spite of the pressing nature of my immediate needs, I would conscientiously remember my utter need for Your Salvific Grace.
May I never be fixated on Your healing, providence or protection; instead help me fix my life on You, Lord Jesus – my Healer, Provider, Protection; my Saviour, my Lord and my God.
I trust You, Lord Jesus, with the eternal well-being of my soul; and that is why I know that I may trust You with everything in my present life.
Indeed, You are Lord of all!
Help me to always look at what You have already bestowed upon me; especially if it is but a small jar of oil.
Thank You, Lord – for Your faithfulness in turning all of my ‘nothing-much’ into ‘something-great’ for Your glory sake!
Use me, Lord, to inbreak Your Coming, Eternal Kingdom.
Grant me a heart to fully obey; as I faithfully wait upon You for Your instructions.
May I never walk apart from You.
I acknowledge that Your Time, and Timing, is always perfect.
Forgive me in my moments of impatience and anxiety.
Cultivate within me, O Holy Spirit, a heart that is prepared to fully, and solely, obey You.
With every step with You, Lord, increase my faith in You; that I may be fully obedient to You.
Lord I give You my life; and I cast all my cares upon You. (1 Peter 5:7)
May I never take matters into my own hands; choosing always to surrender everything to You.
Forgive my arrogance; and presumptuousness; help me to always wait upon You – in faithfulness and obedience – that my life may solely and truly glorify You.
Lord, I will wait only upon You; hear only from You; and be obedient only to You.
Grant me courage, strength, resolve and wisdom – to live in the certainty of faith; and witness Your glory manifest in, and through, my life.
May I walk daily in absolute and faithful obedience to You!
Thank You for blessing me with Your Salvific Grace.
Make my faith work, O Lord!
I thank You and pray all these in the Name of our King, Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
“In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” (Ephesians 6:16)
Dearly Beloved,
Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
To take up our shields of faith – which is, to “live by faith” (2 Corinthians 5:7) - requires us to know the steps necessary to ‘work’ our faith.
Our faith in the Lord must not only have substance, it must be lived out intentionally; and put to work.
Faith is a spiritual muscle that must be exercised; and only through the resolute and disciplined nurturing of faith can it ever become a habit and lifestyle that is so critical and essential to the life of a believer of Christ.
Faith must be made to work so that we will always have the necessary faith to keep us on track and on task to fulfill God’s Call and Commission upon our lives.
“Without faith, it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6)
Every Christian must know the steps required to make faith work; and we are precisely shown in this account in 2 Kings 4:1-7 how our faith must be taken up, lived out and made to work.
2 Kings 4:1-7 - The Widow’s Olive Oil
4 The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”
2 Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”
“Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.”
3 Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. 4 Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.”
5 She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. 6 When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.”
But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.
7 She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”
Making Your faith work!
(1) Be quick and willing to approach God's agent in your life;
The widow knew that only God can help her; so she approached Elisha.
Make prayer to God your first response to any circumstance; not your last resort.
God created us to be in community; and we each have our special function within the body of Christ. (Ref: Romans 12:4)
It is within His divine design of love and community that led the widow to Elisha.
As your Pastor, I am here to share and sojourn through life with you – with the specific task of pointing you to the Presence, Purpose and Power of God; through divine guidance from His Holy Spirit and His Holy Scriptures.
The widow cried out to Elisha, and experienced God’s miraculous protection and providence; do not cut disregard or forego what God can do through you in every circumstance.
I am here for you; to remind you – that God, is here for you.
(2) Know what your immediate needs are; but keep in view what your most important need is.
The widow was desperate to keep her family together, but her needs were beyond simply saving her sons from the debtors.
It is clear that she would be faced with many more problems even if this challenge was resolved.
In spite of how tragic her current circumstance is, her family’s existence without God will be a greater tragedy.
With the Lord, it is not only about providing for our immediate needs, but for our ultimate need – the knowledge of His Salvation through Christ.
All of life’s needs point to our utter need for Christ.
Our failures and inadequacies might seem to be physical in nature; but the source of which is truly spiritual – which is why Christ revealed in Mark 2:17 that, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
Our ultimate need is to be restored to the righteousness of God – through Christ’s finished work of atonement in our place at the Cross of Calvary.
Every divine response of healing, providence and protection serves to lead us to the deepest truth of God’s saving grace through Christ.
Do not fixate on the healing, providence or the protection; but fix your eyes on the Divine Healer, Provider and Protector - Jesus Christ; and you will realise that all your needs will be categorically and completely met the moment you give your life to Christ and are “born again.” (Ref: John 3:3)
If you can trust Jesus with the eternal well-being of your soul, you can trust Jesus with everything in this life.
To the truly thoughtful: to be saved from spiritual death is our greatest need; which is why God “gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
Every immediate need in life points to our need for God’s salvation through Christ.
When the saving knowledge of Christ becomes our anchor point, we would certainly be more assured that our Lord has already taken care of everything else – even before the problem becomes such.
(3) Acknowledge all that God has already given you; with the Lord, nothing is always something.
The widow was quick to think that she had nothing at all.
However, she realised that that was certainly not the case – she had something after all.
She came before the Lord for help in her time of need; and the Lord showed her that - although small - what she needed to start resolving her big problem was already in her hand.
Look for what you already have.
Be thankful always. It may be small, but God can increase it!
Always come before the Lord with a heart of profound thanksgiving for all that He has already provided unto you; and be prepared that the Lord will turn your ‘nothing much’ into ‘something great’ for His glory sake!
(4) Wait for clear instructions; with a heart prepared to fully obey.
The widow sought Elisha’s help; with a heart to fully see through his every instruction.
In the absence of divine instructions, wait upon the Lord.
When seeking God’s guidance, are you constantly quick to assume what God wants you to do? Or perhaps how God wants you to do it?
Is it God you are truly seeking, or a soothing of your conscience through faithless acts that attempt to pass off as divine instructions?
How many times have you been needlessly disillusioned when all along, you played right into the devil’s schemes; acting on your own anxieties and wickedly blaming God for every mishap that grows from the fiery pits of dissension.
The Lord is always clear in His instructions for us.
With a heart prepared to fully obey, wait for clear instructions from the Lord.
Reject the voices of evil; especially those in your own mind insidiously provoking you to move ahead of, and away from, the Lord.
You needlessly walk alone when you do.
His time, and timing, is perfect.
When we receive precise instructions from Him, there is simply no room for guesswork, nor for anxiety; only an exact certainty of who He is and what we must do,.
Cultivate a heart that is prepared to fully, and solely, obey Him.
Walk only with the Lord; and with every step, your faith would increase with every guidance from Him.
(5) Be fully obedient
Gratitude activates faith; obedience grows it
Imagine as the widow pours from the small jar of oil and experience firsthand as it begins to fill the much bigger jar.
What would become of her?
Her faith and confidence would keep increasing with every jar filled!
In fullest obedience, the widow did not go beyond Elisha’s last instruction.
In fact, her faithful obedience to the Lord was so absolute that even after every jar was filled, she returned to the Prophet Elisha for further instructions; thereby receiving the blessing of not only the means to repay the debt, but the means to “live on what is left.” (2 Kings 4:7)
She was not presumptuous; she was patient.
Although it was her problem, she never took the problem into her own hands; choosing instead, to give it to the Lord.
Her only consideration was to receive precise instructions from the Lord through the Prophet till such time the matter has been fully resolved.
In our arrogance, how often have we disobeyed God by not obeying Him fully or by our willful delay in obeying Him?
Have you ever shortchanged yourself on God’s fullest blessings because you have simply decided to move ahead of the Lord and take matter into your own hands?
Remember.
Partial obedience, along with delayed obedience – is disobedience.
Wait upon the Lord for the complete resolution of your request; and enjoy the complete blessing that God has in store for you.
Faithfulness to God is expressed by our unwavering willingness to wait only upon Him, to hear only from Him and be fully obedient to Him
God, alone, multiplies our faith; if only we are willing to pour it out.
As long as we are willing to exercise and employ it, God will multiply even our smallest of faith.
The Apostle Paul declares in Ephesians 3:20,
“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us”
God’s blessing is unlimited.
In faith, we embraced God’s Call for us to come to Canada.
We arrived on the 27th November of 2010 having liquidated most of our assets in order to fulfill a government requirement. The monies required was to be placed in a Canadian bank account. We had enough to sustain ourselves for a year for a course that had a duration of three years.
By God's grace, I completed the course in less than two years. Having paid all the tuition fees and our family’s living expenses for the duration of my studies, that bank account held precisely the same amount that we had when we first arrived here in Canada.
The more of your life – your time and resources - that you avail and bring before the Lord, the more He will multiply your faith in Him, and fill your life with “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.”
Such is the reward of the widow’s faith and obedience:
- By God’s amazing grace, her family was saved;
- By God’s amazing providence, she was to ”live on what is left”; which meant that for the rest of their lives, the Lord provided for them.
- By God’s amazing design, till this day, He is glorified through the family’s testimony.
Walk daily in absolute, faithful obedience with the Lord; and receive the ultimate blessing of His Saving Grace!
Make Your Faith Work!
Shalom.
Let us pray.
Our Father in Heaven.
Hallowed be Your Name.
Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done; on earth, as it is in heaven.
Lord, thank You for revealing to me that my greatest need is for Your Salvation!
Thank You for granting me pardon for my sin; and an enduring, everlasting peace – through Christ Jesus my Lord.
Thank You for Your strength today and bright hope for tomorrow – through the Power of the Holy Spirit upon me.
Indeed, great is thy faithfulness! Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see. All I have needed thy hand hath provided.
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
Help me to daily make my faith work, O Lord!
That I may resolutely exercise and nurture my faith in You; daily manifesting Your Spirit’s Power to be ever on-track and on-task to fulfill Your Call and Commission over my life.
Help me be ever so quick and willing to come before You in every circumstance; that in spite of the pressing nature of my immediate needs, I would conscientiously remember my utter need for Your Salvific Grace.
May I never be fixated on Your healing, providence or protection; instead help me fix my life on You, Lord Jesus – my Healer, Provider, Protection; my Saviour, my Lord and my God.
I trust You, Lord Jesus, with the eternal well-being of my soul; and that is why I know that I may trust You with everything in my present life.
Indeed, You are Lord of all!
Help me to always look at what You have already bestowed upon me; especially if it is but a small jar of oil.
Thank You, Lord – for Your faithfulness in turning all of my ‘nothing-much’ into ‘something-great’ for Your glory sake!
Use me, Lord, to inbreak Your Coming, Eternal Kingdom.
Grant me a heart to fully obey; as I faithfully wait upon You for Your instructions.
May I never walk apart from You.
I acknowledge that Your Time, and Timing, is always perfect.
Forgive me in my moments of impatience and anxiety.
Cultivate within me, O Holy Spirit, a heart that is prepared to fully, and solely, obey You.
With every step with You, Lord, increase my faith in You; that I may be fully obedient to You.
Lord I give You my life; and I cast all my cares upon You. (1 Peter 5:7)
May I never take matters into my own hands; choosing always to surrender everything to You.
Forgive my arrogance; and presumptuousness; help me to always wait upon You – in faithfulness and obedience – that my life may solely and truly glorify You.
Lord, I will wait only upon You; hear only from You; and be obedient only to You.
Grant me courage, strength, resolve and wisdom – to live in the certainty of faith; and witness Your glory manifest in, and through, my life.
May I walk daily in absolute and faithful obedience to You!
Thank You for blessing me with Your Salvific Grace.
Make my faith work, O Lord!
I thank You and pray all these in the Name of our King, Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.