PART FOUR: Living in faith
We are not only called to live our lives in obedience to God, but we are also called to live in faith. What is faith? Hebrews 11:1 give us a definition of faith: It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see. Faith believes without a doubt that God will do what He says he will do, and that He will keep His promises. Faith believes without doubting.
Abraham was a great man of faith. In impossible situations, he chose to believe God. He was blessed tremendously for his faith in God, and as a result his descendants were as numerous as the stars. Long ago, God had promised Abraham that his wife Sarah would have a child. At the time this promise was made to Abraham, he was about 75 years old. But when his son Isaac was born, Abraham was nearly 100 years old, and Sarah was 90 years old. Yet God said that Abraham would have descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and as numerous as the grains of sand on the beach (see Genesis 17).
At first, Abraham and Sarah were in disbelief. Yet despite an impossible situation, Abraham believed God. He knew that he was too old to have children, and Sarah was past her childbearing days. She was not physically able to bear children. Despite these facts, Sarah still bore a son, and they named him Isaac (see Genesis 21:1-7).
Romans 4:18-22 says,
18When God promised Abraham that he would become the father of many nations, Abraham believed him. God had also said, “Your descendants will be as numerous as the stars,” even though such a promise seemed utterly impossible! 19And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though he knew that he was too old to be a father at the age of one hundred and that Sarah, his wife, had never been able to have children. 20Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. 21He was absolutely convinced that God was able to do anything he promised. 22And because of Abraham’s faith, God declared him to be righteous.
Even though it was physically impossible for Sarah to bear children, Abraham still believed that God would give him a child, simply because God said so.
We need to be like Abraham. Abraham had no choice but to believe God. God had put him in a situation where it looked utterly impossible, yet it still worked out. But only because Abraham trusted God. We need to learn to trust God with everything. The only way God can move is if we trust Him completely.
Remember Abraham’s faith. He believed that God was going to give him a son, despite his wife Sarah being a 90-year-old woman. Now, I don’t know any 90-year-old women that just had their first baby. It would be physically impossible. The only reason it happened was because it was God-ordained, and Abraham believed in an impossible promise.
Has God given you an impossible promise? Don’t be faint-hearted. Be like Abraham, who believed for God’s promises to come to pass, despite them being physically impossible.
PART FIVE: Living in purity
We are all called to live pure, clean lives. The word purity in the greek is hagnos, which simply means “pure from defilement, not contaminated”, or “clean” (from the same root as hagios, meaning “holy”). (Vine’s complete expository dictionary of Old and New Testament words) This is the kind of life we are called to live.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 in the NIV says,
16Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 17If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.
In order to be holy, we need to take very careful notice of how we live our lives. We have to be especially careful of what we take into our soul (which is referred to here as a temple). We are the temple of God, and we need to take care with what we bring into that temple.
In the Old Testament, no unclean or unholy thing was allowed into the temple. To do so would be to defile the temple. In this same way, we should not be so careless with what we take into our temple. We do this by everything we watch, listen to, etc. If what you are watching is not God honouring, then ask God what He would have you do. If you are listening to something that you know you shouldn’t be listening to, then why are you still doing it? Don’t defile your temple.
Let’s review that verse again.
16Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 17If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.
See Notes for removed paragraph
I want to give you an illustration that I found on the Internet some time ago. It is an illustration about purity.
After a violent storm one night, a large tree, which over the years had become a stately giant, was found lying across the pathway in a park. Nothing but a splintered stump was left. Closer examination showed that is was rotten at the core because thousands of tiny insects had eaten away at its heart. The weakness of that tree was not brought on by the sudden storm; it began the very moment the first insect nested within its bark. With the Holy Spirit’s help, let’s be very careful to guard our purity. (source: Our Daily Bread)
God wants us to be holy and pure people. To be holy means to be set apart, and to be set apart means to be made different from everything and everyone else. But what makes us different is firstly our relationship with God, and secondly, how we live out our lives. This is what really matters.
CONCLUSION
When we are leaders in the body of Christ, we need to take extra special care by setting an example in everything that we do. It is my belief that when we do so, we are demonstrating effective leadership. Notice how in 1 Timothy (our key scripture), it says, “Be an example to all believers in what you teach, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.” We are to set an example, and this is the main point of this teaching. To help you understand areas in which we all need to set an example, me included.
1 Corinthians 11:1 says, “And you should follow my example, just as I follow Christ’s.” Wouldn’t you like to be able to say this to people? Follow my example, as I follow the example of the Lord Jesus Christ. I know I would love to be able to say this, but many times I fail. Many times, I struggle in setting an example, but I still try.
I pray that this teaching has helped you understand that we need to set an example in all ways for others to follow, and that it enables you to live life as God would have it. God bless!