The Village Church
Do you have a faith? Pt. 2 - Audio
I tell you that, we wouldn't be where we are today, so you need a praise for His grace. Please pray with Him. Father, we thank You for that grace that Jesus ran on grace. We didn't even start. He died of death that we should all have died, but was not for grace, Lord, we couldn't stand. If it was not for grace, we would not even be Your people, because of it, because of that mercy, Father, You accept this in Christ. Thank You for that. Lord, as we come to the preaching of Your Word, we pray that You will be glorified. You will receive the honor, you will receive the glory, and that it's not about us. It's not about us. It's about You, Your Spirit. I pray that You will move my heart and all of our hearts, and You will take this world who will take this truth and apply it to every area of our life. Let God's Word shines there. Let His Word be bright there. Father, Spirit, do it, because we can't do it, Christ in my brain, Amen. Everyone doing well this morning, everyone doing well this morning? Okay, come on, man. Last week, I told you that John was bringing his letter to an end. He was coming to the conclusion. He was summing everything up. I said that he was going to begin talking about something that he's talked about, but this time he's going to be talking about it in a different way, and that is faith. That is faith. Do you remember the question I asked you last week? Do you remember the question? What is it? Do you have a faith? That was the question. Do you have a faith? We're believing Jesus has a faith, and each of us should be ready and eager to boldly give an answer to that question. If someone asks you, "Do you have a faith?" You should be ready and eager to tell them, "Yes." There were three things I said last week about our faith. I said, "We have a faith that continues to believe, depend, and trust Jesus." Second, we have a faith that continues to love God and love other people. Third, we have a faith that strives to do what is pleasing to our Heavenly Father, because we are His people, His sons, and daughters. A faith that believes, a faith that loves, a faith that obeys, but there is more to be said about our faith. Still more to say about what we believe as believers. So if you have your Bibles, open with me to 1 John 5, we don't look at verse 4 and 5 this morning. 1 John 5 verses 4 and 5, "For everyone who has been born of God, overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world, except the one who believes that Jesus is the son of God." So what do we have here? A faith that believes, a faith that loves, a faith that obeys, and a faith that overcomes. Faith that overcomes. For everyone, not just anyone, not just some of us, for everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. In these two verses, John repeats this phrase three times, why, why? What could be his motivation for doing that? He wants to drill into your hearts and into your minds the fact that you have a faith that can really overcome the world. That's the kind of faith that you have and he wants us to get there and to understand that. To overcome implies that there is something in your way, either a problem or opponent standing in your way, trying to prevent you from doing something. To overcome that opponent, to overcome that problem, you have to engage it. You have to go to battle. And as John has repeated throughout this letter, many, many times this opponent is the world. Right? This is a new news to you, right? Not new. This is not something new. Not John messing up his conclusion by bringing in new information, which is a bad way to write a letter. He just summing things up. Your opponent is the world and remember what kind of world, what is he talking about when he says the world? He's already said before too, he's talking about sinful humanity, there's an opposition to God. That's what he means by the world. Using those things in the world that opposes our God in his kingdom, in his ways, in his work, in his word. Because whatever opposes him, also opposes his people as well, do you know that? Right? It should. Whatever opposes our Heavenly Father, also opposes the children of that Father. They oppose us as well. According to John, we can overcome them, believers can overcome those things. He gives us two ways in which we overcome the world, two ways. The first way is seen in verse four, B. He says, this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. Notice what John says here, this victory that has overcome the world. It's unique about that, if you know anything about grammar English, it has passed, it has already happened. He's pointing to something that has already happened. He's telling us that your faith has already obtained victory over the world. It has overcome it, but how could that be true? How could we already have overcome the world? How can John make that statement? Don't forget, John was a disciple of Jesus. He lived with Jesus, he ministered with Jesus, and he remembers what Jesus said to him and the other disciples in John 16, verse 33. Jesus says, I've said these things to you that it means you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world. Do you see what he's doing here? Jesus has overcome the world, and now John is saying here in verse John that the victory that has overcome the world is our faith. Those of us who are in union with Christ, those of us who have faith in Jesus, we are in union with Jesus, personal relationship with him, which means you share with him and his victory, he becomes your victory. His victory over the evil one is also your victory, do you know that? His victory over sin on the cross is your victory, do you know that? His victory over death is your victory, do you know that? And his victory over the world is also your victory as well. You share it with him. He overcame it, we overcome it with him, because we are in union with him, in personal relationship with him. Do you have a faith to have faith in Jesus is to have victory in him as well? Do you see your faith as victory that has overcome the world? Do you see your faith that way, is it? You see what makes the Christian faith what it is, what makes it so powerful lies not in the Christian, is not in you. You don't make your faith unique, Jesus does, only Jesus, you see he is not just the content of our faith, he is the perfecter of it and he is the founder of it. In other words, he is the source, Jesus is the source of your faith, the object of your faith. And here is the thing, the source of a person's faith is what determines the strength of that faith. The source does, I can have faith that this thing can give me eternal life by holding on to it, but really, will this give me, actually give me eternal life, will this actually save my soul, I believe in it, I have faith in it, but is it a good source to give me eternal life? No. And so, if your faith is in something weak, unstable, uncertain, then don't care what kind of faith you have in that thing, so is your faith where it's big or small, where it's big or small. For Christians, who we are, the things that we do, those things are not the source, not the object of our faith, it's only Jesus. He is the Son of God, he is the Messiah, he is the God-man, and Jesus is always and forever a strong, stable, insecure source, a secure object of our faith, and you know what else? Your faith level at this moment does not determine what kind of source he is. This is because you say, "How is my faith this week?" Jesus is still a strong source, he is still a secure source, he is still a stable source, you don't dictate who he is, you just grow more understanding of it, which increases your faith. He always is going to be what he is, despite where we are, not growth level. And that's good news, because even when you are faithless, what? He remains faithful, he remains strong, he remains stable, and he remains secure because he's Jesus, he's the Christ, and we're not. However, two sports teams make it to a championship game, whether it's the Super Bowl, the World Series, the Emmy Finals, or any college championship. Each team, they would have hats and t-shirts stating their master's champs, even before the game is played. They already got the hats and t-shirts made up, already, in boxes, in their locker rooms. The game hasn't even been played yet, they haven't played the game yet, a champion hasn't even been crowned yet, but yet they have the items of celebration already ready to go, already printed. You see, each of these teams, they go into this game with the expectation to win, but as you know, only one, only one team gets to wear those hats and shirts, the other team is out of money, only one team gets to wear those hats and shirts that says they are the champs, and they only wear them when the game is over, when the game is over, when the game is over, they bring out the shirts, they bring out the champagne, they celebrate the victory. You have shirts too, as Christians, what do you mean by that Alex? You have pre-printed, already made shirts that states you as champs, you know what's on those shirts, it says the victory is ours. That's what's printed on those shirts that we wear, and guess what, you don't have to wait until Jesus comes back to wear them. You wear it now, you walk around in this life with that shirt on, because Jesus has already overcome the world, he's already won the battle, so the victory is ours, and the victory shirt that we wear is our faith, and you wear that victory shirt while you're still in the game, and that's this life. Are you wearing your shirt while you live life? Are you wearing your faith as a victory, or do you just leave your faith at home, or is your faith as things you read about in books, or it's something that you carry with you wherever you go? Can you have a victorious faith if you never exercise it, if you never wear it on your sleeve? That's what John's talking about here, that's what he's talking about here. You have the victory, but are you wearing it, or are you living it out, or are you just living in the box? Well, when Jesus comes back, then I pull out my shirt, because I don't want my shirt to get wrinkled, I don't want my shirt to get dirty, so when Jesus comes back and the clouds apart, he comes back, and I'm going to run to my closet and put on my shirt, and I'm ready to go, Jesus! No, you're not in heaven yet, you're not in heaven yet, you're living here. In this world, and see, John does not overlook that reality, and he deals with this reality head on, because in verse 4a and 5, he shows us the second way in which we overcome the world. There's another way in which we do it. Verse 4a says, "For whoever who has been born of God, overcomes the world." Verse 5 says, "Who is the overcomes the world, and step the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God." What is different? In John's use of that phrase in those two verses, what's different? Remember in verse 4b, he says, "This is the victory that has overcome the world, but in these two verses, it's in the present tense." Why? Why is he back and forth here? See, John fully knows that the victory that has overcome the world has a present reality to it, for us, that our faith is not pie in the sky, it's not otherworldly. In a real, it's real, and we do experience it in this life. You wear your faith on your sleeve, because you can actually overcome things in this world now. Not just when Jesus gets back, but now, everyone who is born of God, overcomes the world. Who is it that overcomes the world, except him who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? You live in the world, not of the world, but we live here, and as such, the world has the power to influence us, to turn away from God and rebellion. It does, doesn't it? And your faith is there to help you fight those things. By wearing your faith, exercising your faith, you can resist those things and overcome them. One Christian said that all who are born of God are standing in and upon the victory, which their faith has obtained over the world. You're standing in it, and upon it, do you, do I, do I stand upon my faith in the places where I really live, the places where you really live, the places where you get frustrated, the places that you weaken, are you standing upon your faith there, and are we? Last week I said that all believers have been given a new desire to please God. Those born of God have a desire to please him, to do his will. You know what that also means, you have a new desire to fight against those things that try to pull you away from that, you should, a desire to do his will, and to please him then a desire to flee from those things that try to pull you away from that. The things in the world, that's their goal, to pull us away from God. All of us are attached to the world in healthy, unhealthy ways, but God is trying to detach us from them, and to attack us more to him, and you have the power to do, and that power is in God's spirit, and you know what these things are. This is a sermon I preached, I don't know, months ago, the things that are in the world, the things in the world that we overcome. Chapter 2 verse 15, "Do not love the world, Christian, or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride and possessions is not from the Father, but it's from the world." Those are the things, the worldliness, are you overcoming it? Materialism, are you overcoming it? Self-righteousness, are you overcoming it? Real sin, are you overcoming it? Addictions, certain hobbies, wherever it is that try to pull you away from your Creator, are you overcoming it? Are you just having a good old time with no conviction at all? Everyone who was born of God was strived to overcome those things, even though you struggle with it, even though you may fall, they don't defeat you, they don't master you, they don't rob you, or what you have in Jesus. What are those things in your life that God has allowed you to overcome? Has Jesus given you victory in your life over certain sins, over certain idols, over certain addictions? Has he? Has he? Yes, he has, because I mean, that's the reality that we live in. We still have to deal with sin and idols in this world. Now a lot of us have un-half the attachment, like I said, to different things in your life, and it seeks to hinder you in your faith. It seeks to hinder you in your faith. And God is trying to serve, trying to detach you from those things, to pull you away from them and bring you more to Him. And sometimes that process ain't always easy, and sometimes it hurts, sometimes it's painful, but it's good. It's a good pain because of what it does for us. Now, because we live in the world, you know, we don't always feel like our faith is victorious because of some of the things I just said. We don't always feel that we have a victorious faith. Do you? Do you? Do you? It also appears at times that the world is winning, doesn't it? In your life, don't you sometimes feel that way? You know, me, for example, I've been dealing with worrying for all week, mostly about this sermon, because my weakness started the way I wanted to start, because I want people to like me and tell me I did a good job, so I'm worried that no one's going to tell me that. And so I stay out late trying to make it the perfect sermon. So I worry, I feel inadequate, I'm not good enough. I'm tired, I'm busy. Never enough times do all the things I need to do. I've been impatient and angry with my kids, and I ask myself this week, how am I going to preach about faith that overcomes when I feel like the world is actually overcoming me? How? Do you feel that way? Do you feel like the world sometimes is overcoming you because you got so much on your plate, so much coming at you? And you like the world that John's talking about here, I don't feel, I don't see that in my life, overcoming the world. What is that? Is that real? How do you make sense of that? The fact that John says we can overcome the world when that time that seems like the world overcomes us. How do you make sense of those things? How do you reconcile it? You do this by remembering as believers, is this something that you have to understand? You live in the time of the already and not yet. What I mean by that? I mean in one sense, you do have a victory over the world because of what Jesus has done and across. And in this life we do experience that victory in real tangible ways. We can taste it, we can see it, but in another sense, we don't get the full expression of that victory because Jesus has not come back yet for the second time. And as a result, our defeated enemies, the world, our flesh, the devil, sometimes appear to be winning the war even when they're not. You understand what I'm saying there? You have the victory, but you don't have it fully. It's still to come. It's the already and not yet. On this side of heaven, you taste it. Whenever you overcome something in your life, you're tasting the victory that's to come. That's the reality because you know there are times when you fall short, right? Times when you don't always do the things you should do. Times when you don't love your kids the way you need to love your kids. And so we fall short. That's the reality of you. And John, and that's why John says, you know, you can't overcome the world because you do. There's gonna be things in your life that Jesus is gonna give you a victory in. He's dating in my life. He's doing it in your life. There's gonna be times when you feel like, man, this keeps getting the best of me. But know that it's not. That your sin, your failures in this world will never ever separate you for the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. Remember who the source of your faith is. It's not some gummy bear, savior. Nothing pills buried doe boy. He's Jesus. And he holds you forever in eternity. You don't hope that that's it. And so when I was, um, I traveled to Birmingham once a month of church planning training and during our prayer time, one of the church planners, you know, in his prayer, he said something that I really took note took note of. You know, he said, we as Christians, we don't fight and live for victory, but we fight and live from victory. You understand that? Because you already have the victory, you can fight and live. You may lose some battles, but you never will lose the war. You are victorious in Christ. And that should give you strength and assurance and confidence to leave this church and go back out into the world with your victory shirt on, which is your faith and say, let's go. The week starts again and your faith got to have your faith live in by faith, not by sight is what we're called to do as believers. Wear our faith on our sleeves. Let us pray. Father God, I thank you, Lord, that you love me even when I feel like you don't. Even when I feel like I'm not doing enough, even when I feel inadequate, even when I feel like I haven't prepared enough, even when I feel like it ain't the sermon is not good enough, or if I'm not being the best dad, I can be a husband, I can be. You still love Alex and the same applies to all your people that you know that we are but does. You are mindful that we're going to fall short. If it was not for grace, Father, we cannot stand. But because of grace, Lord, you accept us. Because of grace, Lord, we can live life, we can struggle with life, we can even fall short in life, but Lord, your grace never changed. Our position before you as sons and daughters does not change because we fall short. And I also praise you, Lord, in this life, we do taste the victory that is to come. We do actually come over, overcome things in our life. That's great news that we can get freedom for some of the things that hold us back. That's because of what Jesus has done for us. He let us taste that victory. I pray that each one here will begin to taste more of that victory. Some of us here are still dealing with things where we feel like we can't shake, can't overcome. So Lord, I pray that you let them taste the victory in those things and they will overcome them and help them to know that they are not defeated. Those things will not defeat them. Those things will not take from them what Jesus has given them. But He is a strong, stable, and secure Savior. And He will not let us go. And Christ in my prayer. Amen.