faith

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F A I T H
 Pastor David Fandey
 1 Samuel 13 & 14
 There are so many accounts of faith in the Bible, just everywhere you turn. In fact in the book of Hebrews there is a whole chapter there that just simply lists many of these stories about faith. Faith is so central and essential that God says that without faith it’s impossible to please God. And without faith, it’s impossible to know God.

Heb. 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Faith is a big deal to God. He set up our relationship with Him so it would require faith. And one of the wild things about faith is that, as we will see, it begins with God and not us. In other words, faith is a gift to us from God. We don’t just muster it up on our own, God reveals Himself to us and as a result of who God is, our faith or trust in Him then begins to grow.

Another thing about faith in God is that it leads us to see beyond the odds. When it doesn’t make sense, when it look like foolishness to the world, if our faith or hope is anchored in who God says He is, then it doesn’t matter what the odds are, God is not restrained to save by many or by few. We see this in the gospel.

Now this morning I’m going to take us to one of the accounts of faith in God that is less well known, maybe a little bit more obscure, but it’s one that God gave me just as we were beginning to plant our church The Fields 15 years ago. It comes to us from 1 Samuel 13 & 14 so I invite you turn with me there in your Bibles. I’m not going to read the whole account, it’s just too long for a Sunday morning, but I’ll retell the story making references to text all the way along. But you can be assured, this is the Word of the Lord.

The setting is this. A man named Saul has just been crowned the first king of Israel. God had always intended for His people to see Him as their one and only king. But after years of living in the promised land and seeing that the nations around them that had human kings, the Israelites started wanting that for themselves. So they pleaded with the prophet Samuel to give them a king and God selected Saul from the tribe of Benjamin to be their first king.

Now here in chapter 13 we have Israel at war again with their long standing enemies the Philistines. The Philistines were a group people who lived along the coast and worshipped idols with some pretty evil pagan rituals. Israel’s job when they first entered the land was to clear them from the land but up to this point they hadn’t completed this task and so the Philistines continued to be a thorn in the side of Israel.

In 13:2 we see that King Saul of Israel has raised up a standing army of 3,000 and is squared off with the Philistines. 2,000 of these troops are under his command and 1,000 under the command of his son Jonathan.

(1Sam. 13:2   Now Saul chose for himself 3,000 men of Israel, of which 2,000 were with Saul in Michmash and in the hill country of Bethel, while 1,000 were with Jonathan at Gibeah of Benjamin. But he sent away the rest of the people, each to his tent. ) 1

Jonathan takes his men and attacks a Philistine garrison and it’s like stirring up a hornet’s nest. They get mad and we read that the Philistines view Israel with total disdain. Literally, they think Israel stinks. V. 4 So they assemble an army against Israel that includes 30,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and foot soldiers that number like the sand on the seashore.

(1Sam. 13:5   Now the Philistines assembled to fight with Israel, 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen, and people like the sand which is on the seashore in abundance; and they came up and camped in Michmash, east of Beth-aven. In the mean time, 13:6 tells us that the men of Israel see that their situation is critical, the odds are way against them. So what do they do? It says most of them fled to hide in caves, thickets, among the rocks, in pits and cisterns. Some even left the country. But Saul remained there squared off against the Philistines. Those left with him were literally shaking in their boots. Then some of those men left start to flee and we read in 14:2 that eventually Saul is down to only 600 men. Those are terrible odds. In fact, just Israel’s men compared to the Philistine chariots and horsemen, the odds are stacked against Israel 6,000 to 1 and that’s not even counting the Philistine foot soldiers!

When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait (for the people were hard-pressed), then the people hid themselves in caves, in thickets, in cliffs, in cellars, and in pits. 7 Also some of the Hebrews crossed the Jordan into the land of Gad and Gilead. But as for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.) (6

In fact it’s so bad that Saul jumps ahead of God and Samuel and offers the sacrifice needed before going to war because his troops are deserting. He’s thinking, “Even though we are probably going to get smeared, let’s get to this before more troops desert.” He’s starting to operate in fear, not faith. That lack of faith will cost him his kingdom because he didn’t trust the Lord!

(1Sam. 13:8   Now he waited seven days, according to the appointed time set by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattering from him.) Then to make matters worse, the last part of 13 tells us that in that small army up against such terrible odds, Saul and his son Jonathan are the only one with swords. The Philistines had kept a corner on the market with blacksmiths so the Israelites could make weapons. So of those 600 men, with those terrible odds, they only have 2 swords. Humanly speaking, it’s going to be a massacre.

1Sam. 13:19   Now no blacksmith could be found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears.” 20 So all Israel went down to the Philistines, each to sharpen his plowshare, his mattock, his axe, and his hoe….22 So it came about on the day of battle that neither sword nor spear was found in the hands of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan, but they were found with Saul and his son Jonathan.  And there they are, squared off against each other and it’s just a matter of time for the Philistines to come and sweep them away like a tide.

So, with the deck stacked against them, in the face of such terrible odds what happens? Look at v. 1

1Sam. 14:1 One day Jonathan son of Saul said to the young man bearing his armor, “Come, let’s go over to the Philistine outpost on the other side.” But he did not tell his father. 2

So they go over to this other more remote outpost in the area of Michmash. I’ve been there to this area, and it would be a hilly area kind of like on the otherside of I-15. Now verse 6:

1Sam. 14:6   Then Jonathan said to the young man who was carrying his armor, “Come and let us cross over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; perhaps the LORD will work for us, for the LORD is not restrained to save by many or by few.” Look at this guy. This is one of the reasons why we named our first born Jonathan! What incredible faith in the Lord. The odds are totally against him. Other soldiers are running away, they are defecting. And what does this young man do? He looks beyond the odds. His faith is in the Lord. He sees the situation, sizes it up, and responds with incredible faith saying, “Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf.” Now from what we know in the text, God had not promised to deliver Jonathan so Jonathan is careful not to name it and claim it. He just knows the character and capabilities of God and steps out in faith, knowing that the odds don’t mean anything to God.

That is radical! But faith leads us to see beyond the odds. He knows that God is not constrained to save by many or few.

As we started looking into this church planting stuff we were praying and I feel like God gave me this story of faith to hold onto.

Starting a church can be a scary adventure. Just ask Pastor Duane. How are we going to do this? The odds are against us. The stats are that 80% of new churches don’t make it past year 10. How many of you would have kids if you knew that 8 out of 10 of them would die before they reached the age of 10? And in Carlsbad where we planted, in the 12 years prior 25 church plants had gone belly up. In the 15 years since we planted, The Fields is the only new church still in existence! Those aren’t great odds. And I’m sure the stats here where The Resolved is are probably just as tough. Duane and I have seen churches come and go like crazy and guys burn out.

Well, it has to be a God thing. Faith led us to see beyond the odds, beyond the obstacles. Faith led us to be on our knees praying, admitting our dependence upon him.

And we have seen God move beyond the stats here at The Fields.

We have seen him do great things.

Faith in God leads us to see beyond the odds, beyond the nay sayers.

If you find yourself discouraged, lift your eyes to hope and trust in God. Faith leads us to see beyond.

Our hope is in the Lord. Our faith leads us to see beyond the odds if God wants it done.

So we cast ourselves totally dependent upon Him! That’s what Jonathan did. Perhaps the Lord will act or work on our behalf.

God is not restrained to save by many or by few. That’s the Word of the Lord.

At The Fields we have an early morning prayer meeting at the beach on Wednesdays and our guys have heard me pray this prayer over and over again, every week. It’s my litergury. “God, please act on our behalf. You are not restrained to save by many or by few.” I believe that, I have to believe that. His word says that!

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Trans: So our faith in God leads us to see beyond the odds and when we do that, then we are going to take action.

Faith leads us to take action. Faith in God is going to move us out. Lets look at our passage here again with Jonathan. We see that Jonathan’s faith takes action even against the odds. And our faith in God can inspire others to take action. Look at v. 7

His armor bearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart; turn yourself, and here I am with you according to your desire.” 7

People are watching how you live your life and it will affect them. Jonathan’s faith in God spilled over and affected his armor bearer:

So v. 8

1Sam. 14:8 Then Jonathan said, “Behold, we will cross over to the men and reveal ourselves to them. 9 “If they say to us, ‘Wait until we come to you’; then we will stand in our place and not go up to them. 10 “But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up, for the LORD has given them into our hands; and this shall be the sign to us.” One of my favorite stories about planting The Fields was a quote I ran across in Surfer Magazine just as we were nervously thinking and praying through doing this thing. It said, “The one who would discover distant lands must not be afraid to lose sight of the shore.”

Faith leads us to take action especially when it’s scary or even impossible. If God wants it done, He’ll get it done. A phrase I use around around The Fields is, “God’s got it”. I use that not because I’m a great man of faith, but because I’m so weak I need that constant reminder.

You know how the Bible has tons of different titles to describe God? Well I have a new one. Don’t worry, I’m not being heretical or adding to scripture. Have you ever used the phrase when you are excited about something great, “No way!”? Well, our God is the God of “no way!”

No way should The Fields or The Resolved should exist with the odds so against us!

No way should you be able to get into this building: availability, finances, permits,

No way should my wife and I still be standing after our daughter’s brain tumor twice

1Sam. 14:11 When both of them revealed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines, the Philistines said, “Behold, Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden themselves.” 12 So the men of the garrison hailed Jonathan and his armor bearer and said, “Come up to us and we will tell you something.” And Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “Come up after me, for the LORD has given them into the hands of Israel.” 13 Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, with his armor bearer behind him; and they fell before Jonathan, and his armor bearer put some to death after him. 14 That first slaughter which Jonathan and his armor bearer made was about twenty men within about half a furrow in an acre of land.

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Faith leads us to take action. It enables us to go beyond to do so much more than what we thought was possible.

Our confidence is in a God who is totally in control. He’s got the situation totally under control and he’s not surprised by anything. And with that we have can learn great confidence in him.

Now, did God tell Jonathan he would give him this great victory? No. God hadn’t said this. Jonathan looked at the task ahead, he knew the character of God, and he knew the power of God. So Jonathan stepped out in faith.

Jonathan was a skilled warrior but he didn’t rely on this skill. He used his skill but he didn’t rely on it. What did he rely on? He relied on the fact that if God wanted it done, God would do it.

Do you remember a story about three Jewish captives who were thrown into a fiery furnace for not bowing down to worship a golden statue of a false God? Look at what they said to the pagan evil king right before he cast then into the blazing fire:

Dan. 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” They were confident that God could deliver them. So they took action. They decided to not bow down to the image. They made a stand, whatever would happen to them not to compromise. And in this case God delivered them.

But a word of caution, be very careful when you hear someone say to you, “God told me that it will all work out the way you want it to.” To be honest, it will all work out the way God wants it to. And he is in control.

I said I believe God gave me this story of Jonathan to hold onto as we started The Fields. Did God tell me that He was going to make this thing in Carlsbad happen? No. But I knew He could do it, despite the terrible odds and difficulties involve in planting a church. So we are holding it open handedly saying, “Perhaps God will act in our behalf.” And like you here at The Resolved, we have taken some pretty scary steps of action. And we’ve cast ourselves before him in total dependence.

One of the things we hold onto to is this:

“God is pleased when we have faith in Him, when we learn to trust him. Faith expresses our dependence upon Him. Prayer is one way we demonstrate our faith; action is another.”

What is it in your life that you are scared to move forward with? I’m going to come back to that question. Can you turn it over to God for his glory and say, perhaps the Lord will act on my behalf? There are no guarantees but there are also no limitations for God.

Jonathan didn’t know whether God would deliver him up or not, but he knew God was able to. God has the power. His faith was in God either way. Whatever happens, good turn out or bad, God is still in control. He is the one who numbers our days. So Jonathan acted on his faith and look what happened. There was an incredible victory. Against all the odds, God does in fact act on their behalf and he is the one who gave the victory. Remember it is God’s work, not ours.

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Trans: When our faith leads us to take action, then others will see that. And as they observe our faith and what God is doing in our lives and the world around us it will motivate them, and us, to have more faith in God. Faith leads us to more faith.

Faith leads us to more faith. Look at our passage again. After Jonathan takes this step of faith, after he moves out putting his faith in action, not in his own might, but in the power of the Lord we see the affect it has on others. After Jonathan’s little foray into enemy territory we read in verse 15

And there was a trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. Even the garrison and the raiders trembled, and the earth quaked so that it became a great trembling. 15

First, we see the effect his faith has on the enemy. They begin to panic. And notice that it says it was a panic sent by God. While what Jonathan did was valiant and motivating, we still see that the battle truly belongs to the Lord. And then see in 20 that in their panic they begin to fight each other.

1Sam. 14:20 Then Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and came to the battle; and behold, every man’s sword was against his fellow, and there was very great confusion. 21 Now the Hebrews who were with the Philistines previously, who went up with them all around in the camp, even they also turned to be with the Israelites who were with Saul and Jonathan. 22 When all the men of Israel who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines had fled, even they also pursued them closely in the battle. 23 So the LORD delivered Israel that day, and the battle spread beyond Beth-aven. Look how this motivates the other Israelites to get into the battle. They come back over to Saul, they come out of their hiding places. Their confidence is renewed and they give chase to Philistines who are in a frenzied panic.

They hear how Jonathan had acted on his faith in God. Later in verse 45 we read that they recognized that Jonathan had worked with God in this endeavor. The people saw this and Jonathan’s faith motivates their faith. They are now ready to step into the battle.

When we see the faith of others it motivates us to exercise our own faith. When we see our own faith it motivates us to exercise additional faith.

The stories of faith in the God of the Bible encourage me forward. I need these.

Rom. 10:17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. Our faith is encouraged by the word. Our faith in God is encouraged when we see faith in others.

No one really likes to be out in big surf alone, we need each other. God uses your faith to encourage me. He uses my faith to encourage you.

We started with the idea that in order to please God we must have faith. What is faith?

We might begin with the idea of belief. But faith is much more than just belief. It includes intellectual belief but it is more than this.

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One writer says this, “Faith is not mere rational thought, but it is not irrational either. It is not “belief in the absence of evidence”; rather it is a trust which rests upon sufficient evidence….When God tells us to do something, we need no greater rational basis for doing it…faith honors God’s word as sufficient evidence.”

So we see the word faith connected with the words trust, hope and reliance. Listen to what the bible says about faith

Heb. 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. NASB We know from Scripture that ultimately faith comes from God, he’s the originator of it (Jn 6:44). It is a gift from God. As one writer puts it, “That is why faith is so confident: it is a trust in God evoked by God.”

The message of the Bible is a message of hope. It’s a message of trust and reliance upon God for everything, including our very own existence. Listen to a few of these select verses on the idea of trust, hope and faith as a baseline here:

2Cor. 5:7 for we walk by faith, not by sight Psa. 20:7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. 1 Sam. 14:6b “…perhaps the LORD will work for us, for the LORD is not restrained to save by many or by few.”  This kind of faith is ferocious:

It’s the kind of stuff that moves mountains because it comes from God and it’s all about God, not ourselves.

It trusts in God’s character, his power and ability and his goodness.

The issue is not just about having some sort of faith, it’s about what that faith is attached to and that’s where the trust comes in.

God wants all of us to grow in our faith. As we spend time walking with God, as we get to know him and see what he is like, our faith will grow. We see what He has done throughout history and some of what his plans are for the future and we learn to rely on Him.

Faith is not only a gift, but it’s also something that is learned over time.

Wayne Grudem says this, “The more we come to know a person, and the more we see in that person a pattern of life that warrants trust, the more we find ourselves able to place our trust in that person to do what he promises, or to act in ways that we can rely on.” Grudem

Application Okay, so what do we do with all of this? This is a call to faith.

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First I want you to think about the gospel. We see the gospel in this passage as we see Christ in all the Scriptures. How do we see the gospel here? We see God not being restrained to save by many or by few. We see God working against the odds, the one saving the many in the gospel.

Jesus is the one mediator between God and man. God becomes one of us through His son Jesus Christ, born into incredibly humble circumstances and takes our place, dying for our sins, atoning for sin so that we might be forgiven….

Incredible as this is, I believe this message of the gospel. But the world says the message of the gospel is ridiculous, it’s foolishness. Look at how the world sees the gospel as described by Paul in his letter to the Corinthians:

1Cor. 1:18   For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1Cor. 1:22 For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.  But this is exactly what God does in the gospel. He uses the foolish things to confound the wise! That’s the gospel.

This morning if you have not believed this message, God is not restrained to save by many or by few. Act in faith and respond to God’s call to salvation. Believe in Him. Trust in Him. Embrace the gospel...

But for the believer, do you really believe this message of the gospel. when you are thinking about your friend who does not know Jesus yet? That it alone is the power of God for salvation? Are you embarrassed by the foolishness of the gospel or is it really your hope? Are you willing to act on behalf of others because you believe it…..

Secondly, as a believer, are you willing to follow your faith and apply the gospel to yourself and to others?

This means you believe enough to continuously repent….

This means being will to give the grace you have receive to others…

Third, as a follower of JC are you by faith willing to believe what God says in His word in all areas of your life? Maybe God is speaking to you today and you need the faith to obey something God has said. What truth in scripture is God calling you to act on? What truth have you been rationalizing away?

The Word tells us to put God first, but the culture says live for self, I am the center of the universe…

Or what about Jesus teaching on turning the other cheek, loving your enemies. That makes no sense at all, I want to crush my enemies, or at least say bad things about them to my friends or on social media

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Perhaps you have been afraid to trust God and His word about giving financially of your first fruits financially to gospel ministry. I heard that here at The Resolved you guys are focusing on learning to be generous with the resources God has entrusted you with. We have been blessed so that we can bless others. But you have a fearful heart thinking, “I’m barely making it now financially, I can’t give of my first fruits to gospel ministry.” So what do we do instead, we tip God. We are called to act in faith, not fear.

Maybe you have been hanging on the outside looking in here at The Resolved? Maybe you have been afraid to commit to being part of this local body of believers? Or maybe you are incredibly lonely and you are ready to do something to solve that? Maybe today God is calling you to finally commit to making The Resolved your church home?

Or maybe you are realizing that you’ve just been a consumer Christian. You are not a partner in the gospel, you are not using your gifts and you are ready to repent of that and get involved here at The Resolved. Get off the bench and step\ into the game by faith. Faith leads us to action.

Duane did not ask me to go here with any of these examples. We are in collusion about the gospel, but that’s it.

Lastly, faith calls us to action, that’s an expression of our faith. Perhaps the Lord will act on our behalf. But faith also calls us to prayer. Prayer is an expression of our faith.

In prayer we express our dependence upon God and we recognize that He is in control and ultimately is really the only one that can move both heaven and earth. We know that it is not the power of prayer, but the one who we pray to that makes the difference.

Many applications but one central truth, God is not restrained to save by many or by few. So where do you need to move out in faith, to take that next step forward or just keep moving?

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