Category Archives: How Faith Works

Faith, How Faith Works, Kingdom of God, Matthew

Study 5 of 6 – Faith goes “all in” – Matthew 6:19-24

Discussion question

If someone looked at your bank and credit card statements this year, would they see Jesus‘ kingdom as the one thing you treasure the most?

Context

Our investigation into ‘faith’ has taken the following shape.

  • FAITH… is being sure of what we believe 
  • FAITH… is observable (faith produces works)
  • FAITH… is about entry into Jesus’ kingdom (works don’t save)
  • FAITH… is accompanied with love on the basis of what God is like, not on the basis of what humans like.

We have two more studies on the topic of faith but it is good to reflect on where we have come from in order to see how central this word is to Christians. Jesus is at the centre of it all. But we don’t worship a Jesus who is ‘out there’ away from us, but God who became man so that we can be relieved of our anxiety and doubt about our existence and eternal future. Faith is not a magical word that takes away suffering and pain – but gives us the foundation (our sure hope and trust in God) to lean into suffering and know that it is all in God’s hands.

This week, we turn to Jesus’ own words in Matthew Chapter 6 and see how far we ought to lean into faith. This is part of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7).

Read Matthew 6:19-24

Matthew 6:19-24 are a series of short sayings which are our focus in this study. Matthew 6:25-34 continue with the same message and are an extended argument on the same theme. You may extend the study through to verse 34 but I won’t fill these notes with explanation.

Observation

  • 19-21 – The logic of faith
  • 22-23 – A lesson on clarity
  • 24 – An ultimatum

19-21 – The logic of faith

“…treasures on earth…” Jesus identifies the treasures in the broad sense of anything that can be stolen by human or rodent. Food and money fit clearly into these categories. Two things are paramount about what he says: Firstly, they are called ‘treasures’ and secondly that he is warning against storing up. These are investment terms where we are thinking about our future. He reminds us that there is no eternal future for these things. So, we can gather daily for our needs and we can be prudent about forward thinking but he tells us that our investments will be stolen from us. We cannot build a security system that will defend our wealth against the thieves of the next generation. That is, we must eventually give up everything for the living.

“…treasures in heaven…” But there are treasures which are untouchable by vermin and thieves. Here is good economical advice. What is the ultimate retirement plan? The question to ask of this passage (or of Jesus) is: what is this treasure? It is not heaven because the treasure is in heaven. The answer is not a place but a person: God himself. A person who gathers treasure around them is seeking to make themselves king. But a person who recognises Jesus as king and knows that he is a generous and gracious king will learn to stop hoarding, and striving for self reliance and trust God with everything. We don’t need to wait for heaven to come in order to enjoy the kingdom of God now. Matthew 6:32 concludes this whole theme on possessions and tells us to possess God above everything else.

“…where your treasure is…” Jesus finishes this first section with the question: what is it that you treasure. You will sacrifice things for whatever it is that you treasure. If you spend on X, you are not spending that amount of money on Y and Z. That’s just maths. If the spending is money, that’s clear. But the spending could be your time, energy, sleeplessness, mental focus. What is it that we are actually striving for? Jesus wants to know if you want to be in his kingdom or not? If you do, do you treasure it?

Side note: The word for treasure in the Greek is Thesauros. Firstly, isn’t it great that when we need to use an alternate word for something, we can go to a great treasure store of words in a thesaurus – but secondly, our local finance advisors who are gospel minded with their thinking on money have called their company Thesauros Consulting. They were interviewed this year on The Pastor’s Heart and you can see this excellent 30 minute presentation here: https://www.thepastorsheart.net/podcast/where-your-money-is

22-23 – A lesson on clarity

“…the lamp of the body…” I would treat these verses a little like a riddle from Jesus. It is less like an easy illustration and more like an “aha” moment when you finally understand what he is saying. The eyes of a person who treasures the kingdom of God above all else has healthy eyes and their body is healthy. But if you have an eye for God and an eye for the things of this world, then you are darkening the health of your body and, as Jesus describes it, the darkness is strong! He uses the eye because it describes the direction of our attention. He is not talking about how we actually use our eyes but where our focus is. I was learning about dogs recently, and how the dog brain works, and the first thing you need to know about dogs is that their sense of smell is amazing! They use their noses, like we use our eyes. Where their nose is at, that is what they are focused on. They observe the world and interact with the world through their nose. We, on the other hand, have our eyes as the key input device for our minds. Even when we have them closed, we think about our desires in visual ways – through our mind’s eye! So, Jesus is asking us to be a one-eyed-supporter or lover of God’s kingdom.

24 – An ultimatum

“No one can serve two masters.” Jesus gives us a third way of thinking about our hearts. The first was about what we treasure the most. The second was about what we are focused on. The third is about slavery. What or who are we a slave to. If we are a slave to money then that is our god. If we are a slave to God, it does not follow that we will give away all of our money, but it will not be our master – we shall master it for the glory of God.

“…hate…love…devote…despise…” We might fool ourselves to think that we can do God well and do this world well also. Jesus says, choose. You may have heard something like this, “you can have heaven now or heaven later, but you can’t have both.” That’s not bad if it works to motivate you. The question of ‘what do you treasure’ comes back again: is it God or is it not God. Can you drop everything and commit your life to God? Or is he contingent on whether you are doing well elsewhere first? Is security in this world your goal? And God gets a say when everything else is sorted. Or can you sacrifice everything else for the sake of following Christ? Put this another way: what are you unable to remove from the grip of your hand, no matter what?

My hope is that Christ and his kingdom is what we desire, love and are devoted to. I confess that this is tested in me regularly – and I fail. I want to despise the things of this world because of my love for God and his glory. I need forgiveness. I ask for it and I get it and I keep working on making eye healthy.

Meaning

Jesus calls us to look out our hearts, our eyes and our master. Food and money can become tools for us if we learn to treasure God above all else. Our spiritual health can be measured on the things that we pursue, the way we spend our money and the focus of our mind and energy. We are all slave to something. If it is money and pleasure, repent and turn to Christ. Jesus offers us the kingdom of God – do you want to settle for less?

Application

Application A: Consider what your treasure is. The starting point of application to this study is understanding what you consider as treasure. In other words: what do you pursue in life? What shapes your decisions – big and small – on how you spend your time, talents, and treasure? If it’s God and his desires, then you are investing well. 

If it’s not, then you are pursuing treasures that will have no value when you meet Jesus face to face in eternity. It’s like knowing that your shed will be bulldozed next month but you keep buying more and more stuff and storing them in the shed.

Application B: Putting money in its place. Watching the interview with Kevin and Arya would be very helpful as a starting point on working out how to think about the money you handle and your own personal growth in faith. Here is the link again: https://www.thepastorsheart.net/podcast/where-your-money-is Who can you talk to about how you are going with your money? Managing your money is about telling your money what to do. It ought to be directed by your faith and not the other way around.

Applications C: Matthew 6:33 is a wonderful summary statement of Jesus’ point. Make this a memory verse.

Church, Colossians, Conversion, Faith, How Faith Works, Mission

Study 4 of 6 – Faith Produces Love – Colossians 1:3-9

Discussion question

What are some key markers of a Christian? Ie, what can you observe?

Context

Our series about the word and worth of ‘faith’ has taken us on the following tour: 1) faith is not a mystical feeling but a confidence in a message, 2) faith is never alone but is visible in the way a person conducts their life and affairs, and 3) faith pays out with eternal life and no less than that.

So, you can see that this little word carries a lot of weight. It is meaningful and profound, it makes a difference in a person’s life, and it is worth selling everything to have it.

This week, we look at a part of a letter from Paul to a church that he has not yet met. We will listen to what Paul has heard about this church from word of mouth. We will try to see if what he sees is also seen in us.

Observation

Structure

  • 3-4 God has clearly worked in you…
  • 5-6 Because the gospel has beared fruit in you
  • 7-8 This gospel is spread by faithful people through the Spirit

Here are some questions you could use to go through the passage…

  1. Read Colossians 1:3-8 out loud then have one person retell the passage from memory, then reread the passage. What jumps off the page for you?
  1. Paul and Timothy thank God whenever they pray for the readers of this letter (the church in Colossae). What do they include in their prayers?
  1. Why is God being thanked for what the church is doing?
  1. What is the message that the church received and truly understood? Use some or all of the following Bible passages to get a picture of what the Bible says about grace.
    1. Colossians 1:13-14
    2. Ephesians 2:1-10
    3. Romans 3:23
    4. 1 Timothy 1:15
    5. Romans 6:23
    6. John 3:16
    7. 1 Peter 3:18
    8. 1 John 4:10
  1. Colossians 1:3-8 praises a church for their faith and love that is grounded in their hope. What is the connection between love, hope and faith?

Meaning

The good news centres on God’s free gift of salvation, which is spread by people telling people the authentic unaltered message of grace. The Spirit of God brings that message alive in people when they receive it and believe it. The outworking of the gospel is Christian love flowing from people’s real trust in Jesus Christ. When God’s true message of grace reaches someone’s ears, the Spirit transforms that person’s life because of the hope that produces faith and love. God’s authentic transforming message is packaged in human relationship but empowered from Himself.

Picture this in diagram form beginning with the will of God and ending with hearts transformed by the gospel of grace…

God the Father → Jesus Christ crucified for sins IS the gospel of grace → Paul preaches this gospel → Epaphras hears it and delivers it back home → people in Colossae hear the true message and truly understand it → faith and love through the Spirit

Application

Application A: Love does not come by searching inward but by looking upward. The faith and love in this passage is described as shooting from the hope of the church. They have heard and truly understood the grace of God and this results in demonstratable love and faith. If faith is something that you can observe, it is observable because a person has eternal hope. Love is also sprung out of that same hope. Our perspectives change because of it. It’s easy to love somebody who has loved us first but the gospel shows us that this is not necessary. God demonstrated his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Application B: Christianity is a faith grounded in real relationships. The gospel could not have reached Colossae without Paul or Epaphras. The gospel could not have reached Colossae without the Spirit of God. We do not belong to church for human relationships only. We belong because of the Spirit of God who has brought us into the knowledge of God’s grace and love. We only know this truth, however, because of humans who have also been touched by God’s grace in truth.

Conversion, Cross of Christ, Faith, Forgiveness, How Faith Works, Luke, Repentance

Study 3 – Faith Grants Eternal Life – Luke 23:32-43

Discuss this quote: 

“faith … is the hand of the soul, to lay hold of all the graces, excellencies, and high perfections of Christ.” (Richard Sibbes circa. 1600).

Context

Our study on “faith” has, so far, taught us that faith is not about feelings but about a certain hope (Hebrews 11:1). That is, we don’t live on wishful thinking, rather, we live in the certain hope of the resurrection as proven by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Secondly, we learned that faith is something that we can observe in someone’s life. We act and speak in response to our faith. James 2:14-26 showed us that faith is not simply what we think, but what we do with that thinking.

This week, we turn to an account in the Gospel of Luke which reminds us of the importance and power of faith.

The context of this account, as you will quickly see, is the moment of Jesus’ crucifixion.

Read Luke 23:32-43

Retell the story in your own words.

Reread Luke 23:32-43 (these three steps will help get the passage into our vision so we can see it clearer).

Observation

Structure

  • 32-33 With Jesus
    • 34 Jesus said…Forgive them.
      • 35 The people and rulers said…IF he is God’s Messiah
        • 36-37 The soldiers said…IF you are the king
          • 38 The public notice said…This is the king of the Jews.
        • 39 One criminal said…Aren’t you the Messiah?
      • 40-42 But the other said…This man is innocent…he is the King.
    • 43 Jesus said…Today you will be with me in paradise.
  • 43b With Jesus

Notes on the structure

A study of the structure above will show you the flow of the passage as well as the central theme – Jesus is the King, God’s chosen One, the Messiah, but who can see it? The account begins a birds eye view of Jesus nailed to his cross with two criminals on his right and his left. It is a mockery of a kingdom. The description sounds like a kingly position with those on his right and his left but they are criminals and the place of honour is a place of shame – the cross. Jesus, however, declares that they do not know what they are doing. The spectators then get numbered off as all questioning and/or mocking the point of Jesus as Messiah. The great irony is placed at the centre of the story: a sign with the plain statement that Jesus is the King of the Jews. The sign is of course there to mock either Jesus or the Jews or both, but the message does not come with a snarling voice or a mocking laughter – the sign is neutral, without emotion – it states what we know to be true. Everyone around the sign has their own opinion.

The punch line comes with the second criminal who, firstly, rebukes the mockers (namely the other criminal), secondly, declares Jesus’ innocence, and thirdly, puts his trust in Christ alone: by speaking of Jesus’ kingdom, he declares his own faith in Jesus as King. He is the only person in this account who sees Jesus for who He really is.

Some questions to work through the passage:

Question 1: How is the scene depicted in Verses 32-33? (Note the use of the words “with him” and “along with” and finally “one on his right, the other on his left” which highlight the obscenity of this scene – the King of Glory is pictured as the chief of thieves.

Question 2: List the various characters in the passage from Verse 35 to 39 and comment on what they said to Jesus or about Jesus. What do these statements tell us about the theme of this account? (Make sure to include the sign in Verse 38. The theme could be stated as: do you believe Jesus is the Messiah?)

Question 3: Focus on the statements of the 2nd criminal in Verses 40-42. What does he believe? (about God, judgment, himself, and Jesus?)

Question 4: What does Jesus believe? (see Verses 43 and 34)

Question 5: Do you believe that this man was saved? Why?

Meaning

Luke believes that Jesus is the Messiah, the Chosen One of God and that forgiveness comes to those who hear this good news and repent (see also Luke 24:46-48). The 2nd criminal put his faith in Jesus and, with no good works of his own, was promised a place in paradise by the King who can make that promise. His faith was not blind, although it was present despite the present reality. That is, most people saw a sad and pathetic fool but he saw the saving work of God.

Application

Application A: Seeing what’s really there. The mockers on that day were blind to the reality of who Jesus is and therefore rejected him. Jesus demonstrated no strength (apart from patience, kindness, love and self-control) and yet the 2nd criminal saw a king. What the 2nd criminal also saw was the unfairness and shallow mindedness of the people of this world. In the same way, it is easy for us to overlook the reality of Jesus as King when we live in a world where he is invisible. Our happiness seems not to come from faith but from money, sex and power (it would be great to do a short sermon series on those!) What we can see and feel is real. But, as Romans 1 reminds us, God’s eternal qualities and power are clearly seen from what he has made and done. Romans 1 also tells us that the gospel is the power of God that saves. We are being asked today, “do you believe that Jesus is the Messiah/King of paradise?” Or would you rather believe that paradise is only what you make of yourself in this world?

Application B: Which criminal are you? The first criminal comes across quite angry with Jesus (at least that’s the emotion I hear in the text). He almost blames Jesus for the state that he is in! Have you ever prayed like, “God, if you are there and real, what are you doing?! If you were real, my life would not be like this!” His position is: My Messiah would do x, y and z. If you are not doing these things, then you must not be the Messiah! On the other hand, the other criminal accepts where he is in life, and turns to Jesus for deliverance. He doesn’t try to change Jesus or rebuke Jesus – he turns to Jesus for help. Note that his act of repentance is subtle – not really stated bluntly but his declaration that Jesus is King is fairly clear. His repentance looks simply like a declaration that he is in the wrong – getting what he deserves. And his confession of Jesus as LORD comes in the form of, “remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Do you wish Jesus to be what you want him to be? Or do you wish Jesus to include you in His kingdom?

Application C: Living like a criminal. The righteous criminal turned to Christ (literally) and was saved. But his earthly life came to an end that day. We who have turned to Christ continue to live out our faith as changed people. We will look more into what this looks like in the coming weeks but it is true that the only difference between us and that criminal is time. He was guaranteed a place with Jesus that day (refrain from questions about the time-frame between death and the resurrection – good question but it is a sidetrack to our point). We are guaranteed a place with Jesus at a later date – but our guarantee is not changed. Read Ephesians 1:13-14 and see who will see to it (guarantee) that we make it to eternity. Hint: He is named in the passage.