WHAT IS FAITH?

Romans 14:18b

Ernest O'Neill

Do you remember the story that I shared with the boys and girls last Sunday morning about the walls of Jericho and them falling down? And it is incredible, if you remember it. The Israelites, with Joshua, walked round the walls of Jericho, which was a highly fortified city and which they had no chance of taking because they lacked the weaponry and they lacked the numbers of people to take it. They walked round those walls once each day for six days. 

Then on the seventh day, remember, they walked around the walls seven times. Then they shouted and the walls fell flat. It's amazing because there's an archaeological photograph that you can come up and see afterwards if you want of the walls of Jericho that have been dug out by the archaeologists. And of course, it shows that the walls fell outwards. Walls don't fall outwards when invaders knock them down, they fall inwards. It's amazing that that event is written into history. 

Yet you know fine well that our response to that is utterly unhistorical and utterly unscholarly. Because our response is,  Well, it's a nice story for the kids, but I happen to be grown up and I know that walls do not fall when you shout. They don't. Hey! There, they didn't fall.   So, we say it's utterly unscholarly because our approach is not that of a historical student. The approach of the historical student is,  I'm interested in the past. I'm interested in the evidence for the past and examining that evidence and then believing it.  

We are utterly unscholarly and unintellectual and unhistorical in our approach to that event because our approach is not that. Our approach is a philosophical one:  That didn't happen because it can't happen. That did not happen because I know that walls cannot fall when you shout. Because in my limited experience of life, walls have not fallen when I have shouted. 

And so that's why our response, though it seems very clever and intellectual, is basically unhistorical, unscholarly, unintellectual. It's looking at the evidence of the past, ignoring it, and saying,  Whatever the evidence says, whatever the pictures of the archaeologists have, say this did not happen because it cannot happen.  

Of course loved ones, it's the same with the Old Testament miracles of the falling down of the Jericho walls as it is with the Old Testament miracle of Moses striking the rock and wall water pouring out of it as it is with the Old Testament miracle of the rivers moving back so that the nation of Israel could pass right through to the other side. 

It's the same as it is with the death and resurrection of Jesus and with the blessing of the loaves and fishes so that they fed 5,000, as it is with the disciples who escaped in the earthquake from the prison. These things are so written into the history of the Israelites and of the Hittites and of the Amalekites and the Philistines and the Greeks and the Romans, just as the six-day war against Egypt is so written into the history books of America and Egypt and Israel that you cannot reject the fact that these things happened because they are connected with all kinds of memorials that have been observed continuously down through the years by the Israelites and the Hittites and the Amalekites. You cannot reject these things without accusing whole nations of being conmen and forgers and liars. Actually, it's impossible without taking history apart.

It's impossible to reject the fact that these things did happen, whether we like it or not, and whether they fit in with our experience or not. These things happened.  Otherwise, you have to take scissors to every ancient history book and cut it apart. And you have to believe that the Jewish race has been a far more gullible group of people than they appear to be today.

In fact, if you are purely intellectual about this, you have to accept that there is a level of life here in this world where walls do fall down in response to faith. There is a level of life where a few loaves and fish can be multiplied by prayer to feed 5,000 people. There is a level of life somewhere in this world where a person like Lazarus, who was dead and in his grave, was able to be raised by faith. 

There is, loved ones, a level of life in our world where things happen like that. Now, that's obviously not the level of life where you and I live. The majority of us lumber along through life by all kinds of laborious efforts. We dig through walls inch by inch. We watch the Ethiopians starve. We face all kinds of problems that don't yield to our best efforts. 

And yet, there is obviously a level of life where a manipulating, scheming Jacob can be changed in a moment to become the generous father of the children of Israel. Where a cynical, hostile persecutor of the church like Saul can be changed in a moment into its foremost defender. In other words, there are two levels of reality in our world. 

Yet actually, there's only one level of reality. There's one level of reality and there's one level of unreality. The level of unreality is the area where most of humanity lives -- where four billion of us do everything we can to keep ourselves safe and to get all we want, while the other four billion are trying to do the same thing. It's utterly unreal because we know we all can't get all that we want. That's one level of unreality. It's a level where four billion of us know that we're unique, we're different from everybody else, but nobody else seems to notice that we are. We spend our lives trying to get everybody to see how important we are, but the other miserable four billion are trying to do the same thing. We're committed to a collision course that is utterly unreal. 

But we live in that world of unreality, again and again, coming up against the frustration that face people who are trying to get others to see how important and valuable they are. So there's a level of unreality where four billion of us live in the midst of a lack of self-esteem, a lack of self-worth, a lack of any sense of value in our own lives. There's a level of unreality where four billion of us know that we're going to die. 

We just know we're going to die. We go to funerals for our friends, but we spend our lives trying to forget that we'll ever die and avoiding the subject as much as we can and pretend that it will never happen. There's a level of unreality in our world and then there's a level of reality where incredible things happen that seem to be what needs to happen. 

The hatchet man, because that's what he was, the hatchet man for the Nixon administration. A man like Tolson, somebody who was more cynical and a more hard-bitten politician than most we know of, is changed and becomes a man who loves God and spends his life trying to help others who have messed up their lives. There's a level of life where that kind of thing happens. 

There's a level of life where people's money seems to increase to meet the needs that they have in their lives and they cannot explain why. There's a level of life where cancer is stopped in its tracks. In other words, loved ones, there are two levels of life in our world.  This dear book [Bible] has a special name for them and if you look at it, I'll show you the name. 

It's in Revelation 11:15.  Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet and there were loud voices in heaven saying,  the kingdom of the world .  That's one level.    has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever.  There's a level of unreality that is the kingdom of this world and there's a level of reality which is the Kingdom of God or of Christ.  There are two areas where two different kings rule. That's it. 

You know, we are so dumb. We think we're the great guys and the great girls that do things and yet we know nothing is in our hands, least of all the movements of our own life and even less than that the movements of international events. But we keep pretending that we're in charge but we're not. 

There are just two kingdoms in this world where two kings rule and the kingdom of this world, Jesus said,  the prince of this world rules and he administers a law of sin and death . That's it. It's a law that cannot be broken. It's a law of sin and death. Sin is depending on yourself instead of God. You trust in yourself, you lose your job, depression sets in. 

That's the way it goes. It just goes like that every time. You trust in yourself, you lose your job, depression sets in. And you can apply that to all kinds of situations. You can apply it to your finances. You can apply it to your family life. It just goes like that. It's the law of sin and death. You trust in yourself, something happens that you can't handle, depression and anxiety sets in. 

It's the law of sin and death. In the kingdom of this world, that's the law that operates. In the kingdom of Christ, God rules and he administers the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. You can't break that law either. You trust in Jesus for the normal everyday events of your life and you live in peace and joy. That's it. It just works that way. It just works like that. It's just a different realm. 

The King brings a different kind of life into you. So, loved ones, those two kingdoms operate. Now, you may say, well, how can this be? Well, the same way as the walls of Jericho fell. The walls of Jericho fell because of something that God did. Now, I'll show you, loved ones, it's Galatians 6:14 and it's a verse that we've looked at before, but it just requires that old Einsteinian assurance that comes through science and strongly through scripture that time is really one great eternal moment. 

Galatians 6:14  But far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by which the world has been crucified to me.  I know I shared it with you before, but this is the way this kingdom works -- and you should not doubt it for a moment. God foresaw the obstacle that the Israelites would meet when they faced the city of Jericho. God knows that. A great computer would probably be able to work it out. God certainly can.

God foresaw that the Israelites would meet the city of Jericho at that time in their pursuit of the promised land. He took the protons and the neutrons of those walls and he put them into Jesus, the Lamb that was slain from before the foundation of the world, and he rearranged those protons and neutrons so that when some people exercised faith, they would rearrange themselves flat on the ground. That's it. That's the reality of it. 

Actually, you know it appeals even to your common sense because we're finding out more and more that that is anything but hard matter. I mean, it just looks like hard matter and it feels hard, but we know it isn't. We know it's made up of millions and billions of particles that are actually so small, in fact, the scientists still can't find the smallest one. We know that it's actually energy whirling around itself at tremendous speeds. So, it's utterly reasonable to believe that, of course, the Creator of the world can rearrange these things. 

If water itself can appear as liquid and then we can freeze it into blocks of ice and it can change not only feel but shape, then certainly the Creator of the world is able to do it. Loved ones, that's what that dear verse says. That not only were we crucified with Christ, but the whole world that is intractable in our lives today was put into Christ and crucified there. 

And so were our sicknesses. Our sicknesses were put into Christ and destroyed there. Our sicknesses were destroyed in Christ. You remember where it says that? In Isaiah 53:4.  Surely He has borne our griefs.  And you see the Hebrew in the footnote at the bottom is actually,  sicknesses .  Surely he has borne our sicknesses and carried our sorrows.  And the Hebrew word again is denoted by that footnote  or pains .  Surely he has borne our sicknesses and carried our pains.  Jesus destroyed your sickness in himself on Calvary. 

You remember there's a piece in the Bible [Galatians 5:24] that says,  those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their flesh and its passions.  Your anger and lust and pride and envy and jealousy -- they were destroyed in Jesus' death on Calvary. And just the way the walls of Jericho fell down and that was manifested in time, so deliverance from your sicknesses, deliverance from your anger and jealousy and pride are manifested the moment you exercise faith in that. 

Now here's the amazing thing. When you meet God at the end of this world, when you meet God after death, when you meet your Creator as your judge, He is going to accept or reject you not on the basis of your good works, and not on the basis of how well you have lived according to the golden rule, and not according to your church-going or even your Bible reading. 

He is going to accept or reject you on the basis of which level of life you live at, which kingdom you are part of. He is. 

That's what the verse says, loved ones, that we're studying today in Romans. If you look at it, it's Romans chapter 14:18,  He who thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men.  He who thus serves Christ is acceptable to God. 

The Greek word is  euarestos  and it means is fully agreeable to God, is well pleasing to God. So, if you're going to be well pleasing or fully agreeable to your Creator after you die, you will have to thus serve Christ. 

What is it to thus serve Christ? Well, it's the previous verse, Romans14:17.  For the Kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.  In other words, if you let the Holy Spirit bring the righteousness and peace and joy of Christ's death and resurrection into your present everyday life, thus serving Christ, you will be fully agreeable and acceptable to God. But if you don't do that, if you live in the kingdom of this world by its frustrating and limiting abilities and factors, then you will not be pleasing to God. 

Now, if you say to me,  Well, how do you get into that Kingdom? How do you get into it? I mean, I am living at that other level that you talk about. I am living preoccupied with what people are thinking of me and worried about how I'm going to get enough money to face the needs that I have next month. I am living there. How do I get into this other Kingdom?   Oh, you don't even need to. You don't need to get into it. I'll show you. It's Colossians 1:13.  He has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the Kingdom of his beloved Son.  And that's past tense. God has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us to the Kingdom of his beloved Son. 

If you say,  You mean I'm in it already?  Yes. Yes, you are. Christ died for all of us. Therefore, all of us died. If we died with Christ, we've been raised with Him. We've been made to sit at the right hand of God. Yes, you're actually there. You're in that Kingdom. If you say,  Well, well, I mean, I'm not experiencing it. And the Bible says I have to experience it. How do you experience it?  Well, how do you experience anything that has been done for you? I mean, think of the worst conflict you have with somebody at work or at home. And if I told you at this moment, look, somebody that you know very well has already been to that person, has talked to them, and everything's okay. They're utterly reconciled to you. How would you live in that? You know how you'd live in it. Strain would drain from your face. The agony and anxiety would go out of your heart. You'd just relax. You'd lay your burden down. You'd look forward to meeting that person tomorrow. You'd look forward to meeting that person that you've been avoiding for months. You'd look forward to it because you know that it has been done. They've been reconciled to you. 

You experience that Kingdom by living in the light of the fact that it's real, that it is actually operating, that God in Christ has actually done these things. That's it. That's what faith is. Faith is actually adjusting all your thoughts and emotions and feelings to reality. 

Think of the worst financial debt you have to pay at this moment, the car or whatever it is, the house. Think of the worst financial debt you owe. Now, you know what would go through your mind if I said to you,  Look, a good friend has paid that whole thing off.  Oh, it would just be great! You'd jump into that car out there and say,  It's mine, all mine. I really own it   and the house.  I mean it would be such a relief. It would just flow through your whole body. 

That's what faith is. Faith is believing that the thing has been done. That's how to enter into that level of life, loved ones. It really is. That's how to enter into it this morning. If you have a certain family situation or a certain financial situation that has dogged you for years and that has not yielded to all your efforts, the fact is that that is part of the world that God crucified in Christ, that has been dealt with by God in Jesus. God has rearranged all the protons and neutrons of that situation so that that is destroyed and it is raised up new and will work right in your life according to what God has planned for you. All you have to do is believe that now about that situation. 

That's it. Believe it now. Let all the anxiety go. Let all the worry drain from you and behave now as if that is already dealt with, but not really  as if . Behave now in the light of a fact that that has already been dealt with. That's it. Immediately you do that, the powers of that Kingdom of God, the powers of that level of life, begin to operate in that situation. They do. As long as you operate on that level, those powers will continue to operate and will manifest themselves in time, in this time-space world. 

Have you some situation that you're worried about that's coming up ahead? It's either a job problem or it's what you're going to do with your career, it's what you're going to do about where you live, or it's something that you're apprehensive about meeting. God has already foreseen that, has put it in his son Jesus, has destroyed it in Christ, has destroyed the principalities and powers that give the sting and the power to that thing to destroy you, and has raised it up new so that it's exactly right to forward His plan for your life. The moment you believe that, now, at this very time, that moment, you live in the reality of the Kingdom of light and life into which God has transferred you in his son. That's it. If you're sitting there and think.  That's too easy. It's just a trick.  It's not. That's what faith is. 

That's what the guys did when they walked around the wall to Jericho, and that's what they did. It wasn't harder than that. It wasn't easier than that. That's what they did. Loved ones, start believing what God has said he has done in Jesus, and stop destroying yourself by fastening your eyes on what we call reality. It's the world of unreality that we see around us. It's the world that has already been crucified with Christ. And if you say,  But doesn't it produce real cancer?  Sure, it does. If you believe a lie, it produces things that you actually see. Sure. 

You remember the six loved ones yesterday in Jupiter, Florida? You remember that the power line had come down and was lying on top of their trailer home and started a little fire? And then the loved ones got out of it and decided to get into the car, and they opened the car door, and the electricity hit their car? They believed that that car was not connected with the house trailer, but it was. And they were all electrocuted, because it hit, and the power line was still connected with the high street. 

Sure, a lie or something that you don't believe is true, that will produce results. Sure, of course, the place is full of cancer, of course it's full of financial troubles and problems, and it's full of family conflicts that can't be resolved, because if you believe that those things have not been destroyed in Jesus, you set powers off in the spiritual world that are able to produce things that are appropriate to the lie that you believe. So, loved ones, you can live in reality this very moment, right now, you can. You can continue to live in it by simply adjusting your thinking at this very moment to the facts that God crucified the world in Christ.

In other words, we are all meant by our dear Father in heaven to go out of here this morning with joy in our hearts. We are. We're not meant to go out with burdens on our backs, worried and anxious. We aren't. No father wants that for his children. You don't, do you? Do you want to kill your kids? Do you want them to go about sad and downhearted? If there are things that they can't handle, do you say,  Well, that's their problem?  You don't. The things that they can handle, you let them handle. To enable them to mature.  The things they can't touch, you arrange. That's what the Father has done, except that He has put one little caveat in. He says,  You have to believe that I've done that. Believe that I've done it, and you'll find the walls of Jericho were destroyed by me and my Son hundreds of years ago.  They've been down all the time.  The moment you believe that, you'll see that manifested in your experience here. Loved ones, that's it. That's it. It's a miracle.

I don't know how often you've experienced it, but a few of us are just experiencing again a situation which proves that before the problem came up that we're facing, God had already planned the answer. God is the One who can provide the answer before you even ask the question, and He has already done that in Jesus in your life and mine. So, I encourage you, lift up into faith this morning. Do -- just lift up. You can't lose anything, can you? You can't lose anything. Lift up out of the old bondage of anxiety and depression and see that God crucified the world in Christ and that you're free. The money things are solved. They're solved.  You're free. 

Let us pray: Dear Father, we know that you are better than our own dads. We know that, Lord. And we know how good our own dads have been to us and how they have looked ahead for us and provided for us. Father, we want to apologize and we want to repent this morning of regarding you as less kind than our own fathers.

Father, we believe that you crucified the world in Christ. We believe, our Father, that this level of life exists where solid walls can fall down through faith, where cancer can be stopped in its track, where money can miraculously appear to increase to meet our needs. Father, we repent of trying to tackle these things by our own worry and anxiety and our laborious efforts.

Father, we believe that what you said is true. You have crucified these things in Christ. You have destroyed the principalities and powers which make this world intractable. Father, we believe that. We know that this won't enable us simply to be passive. We know we'll have to walk around the walls. We know we'll have to do certain things. We know this week we need to go forward now into these situations absolutely confident that they've already been solved and act in the light of that. 

So, Father, we know that it's a life filled with action, but we thank you that it's action based on the fact that the solution has already been found, that the answer has already been given, the problem has already been solved.   And we act in the light of that, our Father, and we act as co-workers with God.

Thank you, Father, that we can rise into faith this morning and walk out of here free and victorious over our circumstances. In the name of Jesus, our Savior.