Are We Living By Faith or By Reason?

The main idea of this information is that the speaker is discussing the importance of living by faith and not by reason. They use the parable of the persistent widow to emphasize the need to endure trials and not give up. The speaker also talks about the dangers of relying on human reasoning and how it can destroy faith. They highlight the choice between faith and reason and the importance of believing and obeying God's commands. They also mention the blessings that come from faithful obedience and the consequences of following carnal reasoning. The speaker concludes by stating that faith is necessary to please God and enter His kingdom. Well, today, brother, I'm going to talk about a subject that's come to the forefront many, many times over our experience in the Church of God. And I think we can all relate to this subject to one extent or the other. And the title of my message tonight is, Are We Living by Faith or by Reason? As a way of introduction, let's turn to Luke 18, verse 1. It's a parable that we find in Luke 18, verse 1 of the Wisdom. Luke 18, verse 1, and he also spoke a parable to them that show it is necessary to pray always and not to give up. So this is the introduction to this topic. And there was in a certain city a certain judge who never feared God nor respected man. And there was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him saying, Avenge me for my adversary. Now, for a time, he would not. But afterwards, he said with himself, Although I do not fear God and do not respect man, yet because this widow is causing me trouble, I will avenge her. The purpose of this parable is that we don't lose heart, that we don't give up, that we stay close to God through prayer so that we won't fail to endure to the end. Have you, brethren, ever reached the point in your life that you wanted to give up? I'll leave that question for you to answer personally. This widow did not give up. She was very persistent. She was persistent in her petitions of this unjust judge that she was before. And she did it to get relief from her adversary. We don't know what the adversary was, but obviously she was being mistreated in some way somehow in her life. But because she wouldn't give up on going to the authorities, her persistence eventually was rewarded. Now, you may wonder, what has this got to do with the message that I'm giving you? Well, brethren, just be patient and we will see the significance of this story to what I am actually trying to convey to you. As I said, the impression we're given is that the average person wouldn't have persisted through the prolonged trial that she endured. I think that is part of Christ's message also to us. The undercurrent of it being that we need to endure through our trials and not just give in and give up. Let's go to verse 6. Then the Lord said, hear what the unrighteous judge says, and shall not God execute vengeance for his elect who cry out to him day and night and patiently watch over them? I tell you that he will execute vengeance for them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, shall he find true faith on the earth? Shall Christ God find true faith on the earth at that time? Christ is encouraging us all, brethren, everyone from that point forward to reason their way through this particular terrible. The character of that unjust judge was that he was defined as one who didn't fear God. He had no real regard for God and no real regard for man. He really didn't care about his fellow man in any measurable way. But if he was capable of finally intervening for this poor widow because of her perseverance, because she was always asking for intervention, she did not give up, then how much more certain is God's intervention for his people, even though he allows trials to persist in our lives that go on and on on some occasions, sometimes protracted that they go on for years and even decades as we pray constantly for help? The clear reasoning here is that there's no danger of God being unfaithful. We know that. There's no danger of God being unfaithful. That's not something we have to be concerned about at any time. The danger is in the faith of the elect. That's you and I, the danger in the faith of the elect. That's the concern of this parable, this particular parable that we have just read. We'll be called out once, truly trust God through every prolonged trial that comes along their way. We know that many trials that we personally have gone through in our lives, we've all experienced trials, many severe, many not so severe, and that we have gone through these trials and some help has come our way if we continually go back to God and pray and seek his help. But there again, it takes faith. God does not immediately answer our prayers. And that faith that we have to hold on to is so critical in our conversion process. We look at the world today we live in, it's in total chaos and turmoil. Many, many things happen around us. There could be violence towards us or unjust judgments towards us as this elderly lady had. We can be surrounded with immorality all around us. We can be hungry. We can be thirsty. We can be sick. We can face persecution in the time that we're living in. And many have experienced that in one form or the other. We know also that we can face death. That is reality. We can face death. Will we stay close to God regardless? That's the question. Will we stay close to God? Will we trust him to the very end? That is the question, brethren, that we must really, each one of us, personally answer. We know that Christ asked the question first. First, he does not want us to fail. We also know that Christ does not want any of us to fail. It's just like we don't want our children to fail as they grow up. We want to do everything we can to help and assist them along their path so that they can make good choices in life and that they can continue to look to God and they can find the answers as they need to as they mature in life. That is how God is for us as well. He does not want one of us to ever fail. Secondly, the history he inspired to be preserved for us in the scriptures reveals very clearly that Israel failed for unbelief. We see that in Hebrews 3. We don't need to turn there. There were God's chosen people. They were God's chosen people. Today, the church is spiritual Israel, and we are faced with some of the very same trials that physical Israel was faced with before us. Christ spoke very seriously in verse 8 when he asked the question, Will I really find faith on the earth? He said that for our sake, brethren, for the sake of the elect, those on whom judgment has come. And that would be within the church of God today. It was and it is a pivotal concern between life and death. And faith is a concern, brethren, that we should really concentrate on. Faith is a concern. There isn't one of us that can't name various individuals over the decades or in recent times who haven't succumbed to some of the distractions out there in this world. Some of the methods, the many methods of compromise that Satan puts in our way, who have left the faith. Sadly, it's reality. It has occurred, and we must continually strive to fight that off. And there are all kinds of distractions, as we all know, that get in the way. If we let them cause us to question, what is it that we really believe? Have we ever come to that point? What is it that we really believe? As the world around us continues to erode, faith in God, belief in God, is unfortunately eroding with it. It will have its impact on us if we allow it to. That means one thing for sure, brethren. Our faith, your faith and mine, is being tried and tested. And without it, we will not endure to the end. We must have total confidence in God. And that, of course, is what our adversary hopes for, that we won't endure to the end. We are fighting a battle, each one of us, to one extent or the other. Satan started mankind out on an unbelieving course. We don't need to turn to Genesis 3, because we know the account very well. But there in Genesis 3, Satan struck up a conversation, as we know, with Eve. And he asked the question, what has God told you about eating from the trees of the garden? And Eve was very quick to reply. She told him exactly what she and Adam had learned from God, about what they could and they couldn't do as far as the trees were concerned. So we initially know that Adam and Eve believed God. The fact that they hadn't sinned up to that point indicates a faith towards God. They believed what he said, and they did what he said. So that's basically the crux, belief and to actually do what the Lord says. But that all changed when Satan began his reasoning process with Eve. And said, you're not going to die. Don't worry about it. You are not going to die, but you will become wiser if you eat of that one particular tree. And you will come to know good and evil just like God does. Very manipulative. Due to his clever, clever approach, she suddenly saw many good and desirable benefits to disobeying God. Satan had deceived her. Satan had deceived her. Suddenly the whole world was changed for her. And just like that, her faith in God was gone. Through Satan's subtle approach, which he uses so many times, very subtly, he appealed to her intellectual vanity, which had the same effect on Adam. All Satan had to do was to pit carnal human reason against faith. That is what we are also battling on a daily basis. And that's where I'm going with this message. The interesting thing here is that in their minds, they were willingly taken captive by the God of this world. They were totally unaware through the reasoning process that was going on. They were willingly led by carnal human reasoning. They lost their focus. Ever since the Garden, the minds of humanity have been held captive and willingly sold. In fact, what we struggle with today, even with the addition of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we have the same thing to overcome, each one of us. When we look at the world today, what has all this carnal human reasoning produced? It has produced the loving, stable environment that we live in, which none of us would say is a loving, stable environment. We become comfortable. It seems unthinkable that humanity has willingly accepted, and what we see in the world today, for what could have been literally a utopian lifestyle under the loving authority of God. It could have been wonderful. Such is the power of carnal reasoning and the destruction that has occurred. What we need to fully immerse our minds, brethren, is in the fact that God wants to bless all of his people. He wants to bless all people who will listen. Let's turn to Deuteronomy 28. Deuteronomy 28. Beginning verse 1. And it shall come to pass, if you shall hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord your God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command you, today the Lord your God will set you on high above all nations on the earth. Verse 2. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you will obey the voice of the Lord your God. Diligent obedience to God, because we believe him in living faith, brethren. That's what living faith looks like. We show our faith by our works, what we do. We do it because we believe it. We're convicted, we're committed, and God promises what it is that all people want. What do we want, brethren? What do we want? Big question mark. Verse 3. Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your livestock, the increase of your cattle and the flocks of your sheep. Blessed shall be your basket and your store. Verse 6. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. The Lord shall cause your enemies that rise up against you to be stricken before your face. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. All of these are wonderful blessings that God has promised to Israel for faithful obedience. The reality is, and again, this is because we live in a world that hates God today. The reality is that contrary to Satan's reasoning, God is looking for opportunities to bless us. He's looking for opportunities to improve our lives, to make things better through faith. Through faith he can give blessings. Brethren, it is a choice between faith and reason. When I say for us, I'm talking about those who are under judgment now, meaning basically those called out ones, those in the churches of God today, those that have received that Holy Spirit. We are under judgment. We have this choice. Faith or carnal human reasoning. Let's turn to Deuteronomy 30. Deuteronomy 30, verse 11. For this commandment which I command you today is not hidden from you, neither is it far off. The commandment was to believe God and obey him. That's not a mysterious thing. It's not a hard thing to grasp. It's very simple. To believe God and to obey him and his word. Verse 12. It is not in heaven that you should say, you shall go up to heaven for us and bring it to us, so that we may hear it and do it. Neither is it beyond the sea that you should say, you shall go over the sea for us to bring it to us, so that we may hear it and do it. Verse 14. But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may do it. It is through the power of the Holy Spirit that we can have this. No one in Israel could plead ignorance in Moses' time, and more than Adam and Eve who had been instructed by God, or those of us in God's church today, as what God actually desires in us. He desires for us to have a good life, brethren. It's not been a mystery from the beginning. He's provided that for us, the opportunity that we could have a good life. Verse 15. Behold, I have set before you this day, life and good, and death and evil. So based on what we've read, brethren, Moses was inspired to bring it down to the most simplistic of terms. First, believe and live by what God commands, and have a good life. Very simple. Very simple principle. Or follow, this is the alternative, follow our carnal human reasoning, which will yield evil over time. It may take a little bit of time to get corrupted enough to where it happens, and unfortunately, if it gets bad enough, it could ultimately bring death. So brethren, for us, it really is a no-brainer. Why would anyone want to choose death? Why would the whole world choose captivity and death to freedom and life? There is an answer to this question. It is because human carnal nature and reasoning destroys man's faith. We can look at the entire history of Israel and what we see. It all came down to faith. And that's what we read of in Hebrews 3 by Paul, that there are only two choices. There's either life or there's death, which we could say are synonyms for the give and the get way of life that we've heard within the church for generations. We've been taught that. I learned that from the time I was a child. My parents taught me that. Life for one of God's people is not a blend of the two. It's not like fabric, which comes partly cotton and some rayon or whatever other fabric they mix it with. The good life is a singular category. Let's back up to chapter 28 at the end of the section about the blessings of the faithful obedience. Deuteronomy 28, verse 14. And you shall go aside from any of the words which I command you today to the right hand or to the left to go after other gods to serve them. In other words, we are to follow God straight and true. Not be distracted. Not go sideways. Not let our human reasoning get in the way. Again, none of this is a complicated thing. It's a very simple concept. The reason we are to do it that way is because it will lead to life and not to death. Life, the good life, the real life that God wants us isn't 80% faith and 20% reason. That's not the way it works. Real life is 100% living, active faith. Total trust in God and his word. But remember, as always, it is a choice. That's the choice that God gives each one of us. He puts it in front of us. So, brethren, let's define two terms here. We'll begin with reason. Now, there can be godly reason which can lead to a faithful conclusion, such as Christ's parable that we read earlier. We have to have reason to believe. Paul reasoned in this way wherever he went, and so do we today, especially on the Sabbath day and the Holy Days. We reason totally from the scriptures. We talk about what God says about life and what he has instructed us through his word. Let's turn to Acts 18, verse 4. And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded both Jews and Greeks. So that shows an indication of what true reason is. Here, reason means to dispute, to preach unto, to reason with, or to speak to. Paul was reasoning with the Jews and the Greeks to persuade them of the truth. That's what his reasoning was about. His reasoning was to bring his audience to faith in God's words and away from the reasoning of their own carnal minds, which is so normal to each one of us. So his kind of reasoning is not what we're contrasting with faith, brethren, today. What Paul was doing here was the right kind of reasoning. Remember, we have a reason to believe. Carnal reasoning that we're talking about today is the kind that disputes with truth. It goes against the truth to destroy the faith and take people away from God. We've already covered this with the example of Adam and Eve. Now let's turn to Hebrews and we'll actually define faith. We are very familiar with this, so we can rehearse this. Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11. Verse 1. Defines what faith is. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. What does substance mean? It means assurance or confidence. It's the absolute confidence of things hoped for. All of us have hoped for things but have not necessarily received it. And faith is evidence. Our belief in God and his word is so strong that it is our evidence, brethren. If God says it is, that is our evidence. We believe it. We don't have to see something to say, well, yeah, it's true. No, we believe it just because God said it. Let's turn now to verse 27. Verse 27. Moses abandoned Egypt, not afraid of the king's anger. And the strength to follow through was because, in a sense, he could see God. Brethren, do we see God? We can see God, in a sense, through his word as well. We can look at the stories in the Bible, all the scriptures, the things that we learn, the principles that all come into play in our lives. We can see God because we can see things have occurred and they will occur. And the principles of the things that have occurred. We can see it right in front of us. Christ answered Satan in Matthew 4, saying, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. When you consider that, brethren, again, these are Christ's words. He said, every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. That does not leave room for any carnal human reasoning. It just does not. Believing God's word is, in a sense, seeing him. If we believe him, we are seeing. But he cannot be seen through carnal human reasoning. What will we see? Well, if we think we're seeing God through our carnal human reasoning, all we're really seeing is a mirror that is showing a picture of ourselves, our own will. Verse 6. Now, without faith, it is impossible to please God. For it is mandatory for the one who comes to God to believe that he exists and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. Christ also spoke of something else impossible. We see a very clear parallel here. Let's turn to Matthew 18, verse 2. Matthew 18, verse 2. Matthew 18, verse 2. And after calling a little child to him, Jesus said to him in their midst, that he said, Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, there is no way that you shall enter into the kingdom of God. It is also impossible to enter God's kingdom except through conversion. It is also impossible to enter God's kingdom except that we turn around and become as believing little children. I know that living in a time that we do, and if you go and see the behavior sometimes of children today, many times we shake our head. Why would Christ refer like this with seeing the behavior of so many of the children today? Many spoiled, angry, loud children. Well, that was brought on with reasoning. Even at a young age, children begin to reason. But it is a perfect analogy that Christ has given from a loving family. A little child in that environment looks to dad and mom as a source of all that's good. They are content, and they will become content with the decisions that are made. The perfect family scenario of raising children is that the children have confidence in that even when it sometimes is difficult, when they really can't see the conclusion, but they have full trust in their mom and their dad. It is without that childlike faith, it is impossible to fear God. And here's why. Let's turn to Romans 14, verse 23. Romans 14, verse 23. But the one who doubts is condemned if he eats because his eating is not of faith. For everything that is not of faith is sin. We understand that. We know that concept, that context, pardon me. It's about not eating anything that might offend a weaker brother or sister in the faith. All explained in this context that we read here, if we have faith or believe according to God's word that it's okay to eat or drink something, whether it might be, we are not to do that in presence of a brother or sister who does not yet comprehend where their faith should be. God will eventually get to those individuals to the point of their understanding. But the last part of this explains why we should not push them. We have to be careful, brethren, is because whatever is not faith is sin. God hates sin. Even if it's from the misguided faith because it still represents rejecting God and his authority in their own minds. On the one hand are life and faith. And on the other hand, death and carnal reason. Let's spend a little bit more time looking at the two or three biblical examples to bring out my point. Each of these to see what we can learn from them. We know the account of Lot very well. So I just want to read a few key scriptures demonstrating the principles behind my message. We need to remember that Lot was called Righteous Lot by Peter. This was a righteous man. Lot and his family had just been led out of Sodom. Let's turn to Genesis 17. Pardon me, 19. Genesis 19. Getting verse 17. And it came to pass when they brought him outside, they said, Escape for your life. Do not look behind you, nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be consumed. And Lot said to them, Oh, no, my lord. Behold, now your servant has found grace in your sight, and you have magnified your mercy, which you have shown to me in saving my life. But I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil overtake me and I die. Verse 20. Behold, now this city is near to flee to, and it is a little one. Oh, let me escape there. Is it not a little one? And my soul shall live. And the angel said to him, See, I have accepted you concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city for which you have spoken. Hurry and escape there, for I cannot do anything till you arrive there. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. This was an extremely traumatic experience for Lot and his family. It would be hard for us to imagine the trauma that you would go through in this kind of a sudden extraction, sudden decision that was necessary. It's very much a society as it will be when Christ returns. In other words, it's very much like our society is becoming today. But as chaotic and perverse as it was, God had just miraculously intervened for Lot and his family. He provided a solution for Lot that he couldn't have provided for himself. And you would think that we would see a faithful response to that. Yet we don't. He was told to escape to the mountains. This is what he was instructed to do. What did he do? He instead asked to go to a city that would appear from what we have read was slated for destruction. In other words, another corrupt city. If God had protected him thus far, what would stop him from protecting them in the mountains? That's what we need to look at in this story and ask ourselves. What would stop God from intervening for them in the mountains where he was so afraid to go? This is where Lot's human reasoning came in, and that would stop him. One of the obvious lessons here, brethren, is that there was a righteous man living in a corrupt society, and unfortunately that corrupt society affected him. And that's a very valid lesson for us today, brethren. We need to look at that because we are living in a society that is becoming just like it was in Lot's time. At the beginning of Christ's parable, he asked that at his coming, would he really find faith? And we look at this righteous man as Peter defined him, and look at what we see going on in Lot's mind. Verse 30. And Lot went out to Zohar and lived in the mountain and his two daughters with him, for he feared to live in Zohar. And he and his two daughters lived in a cave. It was wrong for him not to go to the mountains in the first place. And it was also wrong to go there after being given assurance Zohar would be spared for them. It's like Lot doesn't know which way to turn. He is so consumed with his own thinking, his own carnal reasoning, he lost the faith of what God had told him he should do, the faith of what God would do for him. And he couldn't come to a solid, sound conclusion. But brethren, we need to remember that as what we read earlier, blessings come with faith. Blessings come with faith. God wants to bless. God wants to bless Lot. But that's not really what we see from this story. Verse 31. And the firstborn said to the younger, Our father is old, and there is no man on the earth to come in to us, as is the way of all the earth. Let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him so that we may preserve the seed of our father. We know the rest of the story. It's a very sad, twisted sort of a story. What drove them to such a wrong, wrong conclusion? Obviously, it was not faith. It was carnal, totally carnal human reasoning that drove them to the conclusion that they came to. Would we say that was a blessing from God? Well, certainly not. God, who intervened for them in Sodom, could just as easily have provided a mate for each one of these young ladies in his perfect timing. And that is a timeless issue for people throughout the ages. Will we trust? Will we trust God? It's a question of faith and a question of reason. Faith against human reason. Let's look at another familiar tale of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. We know that there was a mandate put out that everyone was to worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Some of the Chaldeans came forward to accuse Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego of not wanting to bow down to worship it. Let's go to Daniel 3, verse 12. Daniel 3, verse 12. There are certain Jews whom you have set over the business of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, do not heed you. They do not serve your gods nor worship the golden image which you have set up. Then Nebuchadnezzar, in rage and fury, commanded them to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego before them. They brought these men before the king. Everything we want to know about this man would cause us not to want to be in his presence because he was a man of violent passions, and he was probably very short-fused. He was easily excited to the extreme. To really appreciate this, it would be good if we could put ourselves into the skins of one of these three men as they faced the king, a very angry king. Whoever you are, you've just violated the law of the land, and you know that it carries with it the death penalty. And you're being rushed forward to the king, who is very violently angry with you. Verse 14. Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said to him, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods, nor worship the golden image, which I have set up? Now, if you are ready, at the time you hear the sound of the horn, the pipe, zither, the lyre, harp, and bagpipe, and all kinds of music fall down, and worship the image which I have made. But if you do not worship immediately, you shall be thrown into the middle of the burning, fiery furnace. And who is that god who shall deliver you out of my hand? This is not a conversation, but rather an ultimatum that he gave them. Nebuchadnezzar doesn't even initially wait for their answer. So we know they had very little time to think about this whole process as they were before the king. The light is flashing in front of their eyes. They know the king's anger. They know the penalty. They know the fire of the furnace. They can see the furnace. They could probably feel the heat coming from the furnace where they were standing. And they were under pressure. And these types of situations will bring out our true state of thinking and our reactions. This is a prime example of where our human reasoning most likely would prevail. If faith is going to prevail, now is the time to show it. It was a matter of a decision they had to make. And they could have thought, if I don't violate God's law, I'm now in a position of losing my life and die. Surely God wouldn't expect me to obey in this case. They could have started reasoning that way. And that, brethren, so easily done, so many times to excuse total disobedience to God in a very compromising and difficult situation. Can you put yourself in being in a situation similar to this? I am sure that most of us can put ourselves into being faced with situations like this. We know that we're supposed to stay very close to God. And these men, these three men, obviously were very close to God. Let's look at their answer. Verse 16, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer a word to you on this matter. If that is the case, our God who we serve is able to deliver us from the burning, fiery furnace. And he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods nor worship the golden image which you have set up. They, all three, stood up. They stood their ground and realized it was totally up to God. It was not up to them. It wouldn't change their faith, not in the least. They believed God was God. There was no question in their minds that they were very close to God. They prayed every day. They had living faith. We know that dead faith is to believe that God is and God is real and yet not choose childlike obedience in the doing part. That is what dead faith is. We know that God is there, but we don't do as he has instructed us. These three men were very bright individuals, very gifted young men. That's why they were selected out of the captives to actually serve Nebuchadnezzar. He wanted the best and the brightest in his palace. There is intellectual pride and there is physical pride. There are all kinds of things we could take pride into. And anything we happen to excel at, we can be proud about that. These men were very intelligent young men. They could have exalted in their mental abilities that could have gotten them a big head. They could have reasoned in their own minds. We have a lot to offer if we stay alive. What good will our talents and our abilities be if we don't compromise with what we know is God's will? How could we possibly help anyone? Well, brethren, we know from scriptures they did not reason that way at all. That was not their reasoning. And their example, brethren, has been a legacy to the faithful down through the centuries. They left it totally up to God. It was because of their childlike faith that they made their choice. Had a human reasoning got in the way and been their choice, they would likely have never been a footnote in the pages of history. They wouldn't have been remembered at all. They, through their actions, have been able to give what those who rely on human carnal reasoning can only read about in the pages of history. It's something the arrogant can never attain without repentance. These three young men who were thrust into a snap decision, they were thrust into a situation where they didn't have time to analyze or assess anything. We have situations every day in our personal lives that may compromise our true understanding and commitment and faith to God rather than letting our minds wander in reason. Can you relate, brethren? Can you relate? I'm sure we all can relate to one extent or the other. What's the first thing we do in the morning? Do we pray to God that he be in our lives and help us deal with the struggles of the day, the protection for the day and situations that come up in our lives for that particular day? How do we respond to those things? Led by human reasoning against God's will, or do we respond by faith? That's the key to my message this evening. We all have choices of faith and reason, and we deal with them constantly in our conversion process in life, even though many times we may not even realize it. Those in Corinth were having a struggle between faith and reason many times, and it's recorded as such. It is not uncommon at all in our lives as well. 1 Corinthians 5 verse 1. 1 Corinthians 5 verse 1. It is commonly reported there is sexual immorality among you and such immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles, allowing one to have his own father's wife. The Corinthians had a member there within their group who had committed a faithless act. That's what any sin actually is, a faithless act. Any sin is a faithless act, but it was being perpetuated in their very own congregation. Let's see what Paul says, verse 2. 2 You are puffed up and did not grieve instead, so that he who did this deed might be taken out of your midst. They weren't viewing it with a childlike attitude as they should have. They were reasoning. Maybe it was best to ignore it, let it pass by. The reasoning was all centered around carnality. The straight and simple truth is that, as Paul says in the next chapter, neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor homosexuals nor sodomites will inherit the kingdom of God. The faithful approach, the one of faith, the instant decision should have been to put them out just like we put out the leaven, the sin in our first four lives. We put the leavening out of the church. But they were compassionate, very compassionate, open to the sin, trying to be more merciful than God. Looking at our society today, brethren, what do we see? We see the exact same thing. That's what we see on a societal level on what's going on around us. We have come to the point that we must be politically correct and accepting perversion, accepting things as they occur, not questioning things, all based on human reasoning. We see it every day. And unfortunately, we have to deal with it. We, brethren, must look at within ourselves. We look at it within the church today, and we just deal with it. We, all of us, have to come to the right conclusion. Verse 3. For I indeed, being absent embodied but present in spirit, have already judged concerning him who has so shamelessly committed this evil deed as if I were present. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, and my spirit together with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver such a one to Satan, for the earth may be saved in the day of our Lord Jesus. Your glory is not good. Don't you know that a little leaven leavens the whole loaf? So, brethren, the faithful thing was to handle the situation. Basically, to put that person out so that he may come to himself and that he might repent. That's so he could be blessed. That's what God desires for all his people every single time. He wants to bless his people. Sometimes, we just have to be put back on track in a spiritual sense. 2 Corinthians 2 verse 4. 2 Corinthians 2 verse 4. For out of much distress and anguish of heart, I will to you with many tears, not that you might be sorrowful, but that you might know the overflowing love which I have for you. What we see here is that following God's word faithfully, brethren, doing the things we know are right, provides us a great deal of hope. Again, that's where the blessings come in. Paul is expressing, look, I love you people so much. That's why he had to say to the things that he had to say. Just as he told the Corinthians to mourn over the sin, he also mourned over having to tell them what he did in his first letter. Verse 5. But if anyone has caused sorrow, he has not grieved me, but you all, at least in part, in order that I may not overcharge him. To such a one, this punishment, which was inflicted by the majority of you, is sufficient. The faithful punishment had produced repentance in this man. Brought him back to God. Brought him back into the realm where he could be blessed and have something good. Had they been encouraged to use carnal reasoning and to be politically correct as the world is today, they would only have encouraged sin to spread within the church. And that's the farthest thing from the right thing. That is a faithless act. Instead now, they have a repentant brother. Verse 7. So that on the contrary, you should rather forgive, encourage him, lest such a one be swallowed up with overwhelming sorrow. For this reason, I exhort you to confirm your love toward him. Verse 9. Now for this cause, I wrote to you that I might know by testing you whether you are obedient in everything. So brethren, what we see here, brethren, is it happens within the church even today. The faith of the Corinthians back then was being tried. And our faith is tried continually in so many different ways. And I think we can all acknowledge that. They got back on track, which turned out to be a blessing to everyone. It works totally contrary to human reasoning. We should never, never be sorry for choosing the course of faith. Because whether it is appreciated or not, it is the only course that leads to life and God's blessings. We can learn some very valuable lessons from the great bits of church history that we find in the Bible. It is so easy, brethren, and I think you all know it as well. We all tend to get off track from time to time. We all do it. But we also realize that when the faithful are shown the truth, what we can also know is that they don't say, I cannot or I won't. They just do. They just do. That is what we need to come to, to just do. I know I'm running a little over time, but there's one more example, and this is showing faith, and that is of Christ himself. And it's a very, very important example. Let's go to Luke 23, verse 34. Luke 23, verse 34. Luke 23, verse 34. Then Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. And as they divided his garments, they cast lots. Christ did not say, Father, forgive them because they're sorry for what they've done. He asked this before they even necessarily knew that there was a God. Christ's words here was, this a result of human reasoning, or was this a result of faith? That really should not even be a question. When people are cursing you, as Christ was being cursed, hit and spit upon, when they were literally killing him, human reason doesn't say, please forgive them. Carnal reasoning wants vengeance, immediate vengeance. It wants destruction or complete out of the place instantly. That's what human reasoning wants. Christ was flesh and blood man like you and I. He had much opportunity to choose human reasoning as his guide, as we do on a daily basis. And yet he said of himself that he could do nothing. Christ could do nothing. Forgiving in the way he just did, what he just said to his father, that was a superhuman task. So how did Christ do that? How did Christ do that? It's because he understood that he could do nothing of himself. Nothing of himself. He could not do anything of himself. In other words, his competence was totally in his father. And he was able to accomplish what needed to be done. John 14 verse 10. John 14 verse 10. Don't you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? We've read this many times during Passover and otherwise. The words that I speak to you, I do not speak from my own self, but the Father himself who dwells in me does the works. It was by the Father dwelling in him through the Holy Spirit because he was close to his Father. Christ didn't reason within himself and say, Father, we should probably forgive. Or, Father, let's try and forgive these people. Christ, a man, knew just as did the Father that the entire plan of salvation hinged on forgiving. He knew it and he believed it. He was faithful to the truth in his mind and he trusted the Father to give him the power to follow through in this situation. Brethren, the same thing holds true for each one of us virtually in any matter of faith. And all the decisions we make in our life are a question of faith. Coming close to an end here. Revelation 14. Revelation 14 verse 12. Revelation 14 verse 12. Here is the patience of the saints. Here are the ones who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. John is obviously speaking about the church here. He says the saints, the faithful, keeping the commandments of God. They don't question it. They don't try to challenge it. They don't try to change it to suit their human reasoning. They believe it is a trusting child can do by the very faith of Jesus Christ. The very faith that Jesus Christ had and still has. Forgiving is a miracle of spiritual origin. No amount of human reasoning can get us there. None. The miracles that Christ did in his lifetime were of faith. The miracles that happen in our minds, and brethren, we have miracles happening in our minds, whether we realize it or not, occur many more times, and they are all miracles in our lives. We need to think about that from time to time. They happen frequently as we continue to grow, overcome, and change. And they happen by the faith of Christ actually living in us, brethren. The setbacks and the roadblocks in our lives, which there is many, can be overcome every time with faith. There are plenty of things that can discourage us, set us back. There's many things that can make us quit from our own carnal reasoning. That's what Christ was concerned about in the parable of the persistent widow. And true to what he said there, without praying always, without staying close to God, we'll find ourselves allowing reason to push faith aside. And that's what we must guard against. That's the point of my message today. Our lives are becoming 100% faithful. That's what our goal should be, brethren, in life. We are not there yet. We are not there yet. I would say no, no one is in that position. And some of us are far from it. That is why we must continue to grow. That is why we must continue to overcome, brethren. That's what our faith needs, perfecting. It needs changing. Let's turn to Hebrews 12, verse 1. Hebrews 12, verse 1. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great throng of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and every sin, and the sin that so easily entraps us, and let us run the race before us with endurance, having our minds fixed on Jesus, the beginner and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that lay ahead of him endured the cross, although he despised the shame, and has sat down on the right hand of the throne of God. All the faithful before us have had to learn to let go of the carnal reasoning which can so easily ensnare us all. That's the same thing that we must do, brethren. And as we say there in verse 2, it says that Christ is the author and the finisher of our faith. That word, finisher, means perfecter. He is the perfecter of our faith. So, brethren, it is staying close to God, our Father, staying close to Christ, as well as that we can be perfected, that we can have the mind in us and the confidence in God. In closing here, Ephesians 2, verse 8. Ephesians 2, verse 8. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this especially is not of your own self, it is the gift of God, not of your own works, so that no one may boast. The faith of Christ, the living faith, is God's gift to us at baptism, brethren. It is something that we can work up, like so many have tried to do. And when we try to work up faith, if that isn't in our mind, I'm going to work up faith that is just plain human reasoning. We can't earn it by our works. That's human reasoning. It's God's gift to those who don't trust in themselves. It is a gift from God to those who believe God. And it is a gift to those who have a childlike attitude. And it is for a specific purpose. Verse 10. For we are His workmanship being created in Christ Jesus unto the good works that God ordained beforehand, in order that we might walk in them. He has given us the faith of Christ to do good works and to ultimately to glorify Him. And that's the result of all of this, that we glorify God and that we glorify the author of love and of everything that is good, brethren. One last scripture. One last scripture. Isaiah. 43. Verse 7. Even everyone who is called by my name, for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him, yea, I have made him. Who are those who are called by God's name? The church of God would be those who are converted. The church began being called the church of God in the early days, after the Holy Spirit had been given. We were not called for failure, brethren, through human, carnal reasoning. That was not worth a point of why God called us. We were called to glorify God through the perfecting of our character by the very faith of Jesus Christ. That is what each one of us was called for. So we have seen today faith is a choice, as so many other things in our life. Full of choices. God has allowed us choices. Human reasoning is a choice. Despite baptism or growing up in the church, we are each free moral agents. And our choices will ultimately lead to life or to death. If we ever get to the point where I say I can't or I won't regarding a faithful matter, then we will need to repent and do the faithful thing. Brethren, the culture we live in today is one that says I can't or I won't. I'll give up regarding anything that represents God. That's the culture we live in. If we're willing, we know Christ is faithful to finish what he has begun in a work to God's glory. So let's continue, brethren. I hope this was meaningful to you to work towards concentrating on our lives, staying close to God and his word, and let our conversion process develop with total faith on God and his works and not our human reasoning. It's a challenge. It's a challenge for all of us, but with the power of the Holy Spirit and our will to change and overcome, we can come to living in faith and not letting our minds and human reasoning take precedence over our thoughts or our actions. Let us live by faith, brethren, and not human reasoning. That is where God will proclaim, well done, self-good and faithful service.