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True Contentment: In a Faith That You Finally Own
Today is what is known on the church calendar as Pentecost Sunday, fifty days after the time that we honor the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on the cross.
As Jesus’ death and resurrection provided humanity an opportunity to be reconciled with God, what happened at Pentecost provided the engine for that reconciliation to wrap itself around the globe.
Last week we spoke about the international spread of Christianity through a living faith.
Today we’re going to talk about how that expansion takes place through a faith that you own.
Focus: True Contentment Comes When We Finally Own Our Faith
A Borrowed Faith
An Owned Faith
A Savior To Whom We Belong
We’ll do this by reflecting on the historic ministry of Elisha, words from the prophet Isaiah, a charge from Jesus to the New Testament church and some of the words of the Apostle Paul, all of these which point to a faith that we can own.
A Borrowed Faith
2 Kings 6:1-7
Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “See, the place where we dwell under your charge is too small for us. Let us go to the Jordan and each of us get there a log, and let us make a place for us to dwell there.” And he answered, “Go.” Then one of them said, “Be pleased to go with your servants.” And he answered, “I will go.” So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. But as one was felling a log, his axe head fell into the water, and he cried out, “Alas, my master! It was borrowed.” Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there and made the iron float. And he said, “Take it up.” So he reached out his hand and took it.
The sons of the prophets were the company of gifted ministers who were learning to minster in their prophetic giftings/offices/callings.
They were being trained by a seasoned prophet named Elisha, who himself had been mentored by the prophet Elijah so that he might walk in the anointing of his ministry.
They ministered 800+ years before Jesus.
From this we know that we also should have people with whom we are growing in the gifts, ministry and call of God on our lives.
The question is:
Who are those people for you?
As the sons of the prophets were being trained, they were concerned about expansion.
It’s natural to want to grow and expand - in your personal life, in your career, in your faith and in your relationships - the most important one being your relationship with God.
To be sure, ungodly discontent is always talking about what you don’t have vs. thanking God for what you do have.
There is, however, also a place of godly desire for growth, when your ambition is aligned with the heart of God and leads to the expansion of Christ’s Kingdom.
This is a heart that says, “There is more to be done for the glory of God.”
Sometimes this desire is stirred because God himself is trying to expand us and bring us into something new.
Like the meeting place of the prophets, the things to which you’ve been giving yourself may be too small.
They most certainly are if they are not being utilized as vehicles to serve God’s objectives of eternal value.
An Explore God article shed light on the nature of our desires:
“Some religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism, suggest that desire is the explanation for all human suffering. But Christians believe the problem is found not in desire itself but in the human heart. Our hearts seek the fulfillment of our desires in all the wrong places.”
Puritan pastor Jeremiah Burroughs put it this way: “The reason why you have not got contentment in the things of the world is not because you have not got enough of them . . . but . . . because they are not things proportionable to that immortal soul of yours that is capable of God himself.”
Again, the place where the sons of the prophets were meeting was too small.
God foreshadowed the expansion of his Kingdom 700 years prior to the arrival of Christ.
The Israeli prophet Isaiah spoke by the Holy Spirit about Jesus, the Messiah:
“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
Isaiah 49:6
When Jesus spoke about this expansion, he said that he intended the spread of the gospel to take place by the baptism and power of the Holy Spirit.
The historian Luke, who also penned the Gospel of Luke, records it this way:
In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Acts 1:1-8
Now, some may balk at this when they hear such a statement.
Yet we should remember the words of Billy Graham during his 1973 outreach in apartheid laden South Africa:
“Christianity is not a white man’s religion. And don’t ever let anybody tell you that it’s white or black. Christ belongs to all people! He belongs to the whole world!”
—Billy Graham in Johannesburg, South Africa ,1973
In the same way, the person and power of the Holy Spirit is the promised inheritance to all Christians who believe God’s Word.
Amongst other things, the baptism in the Holy Spirit to which Jesus refers is vital because it provides the boldness that believers require as they humbly serve as witnesses to the truth claims of Christ’s identity and work, even as portions of the world vehemently reject his benevolent exclusivity.
When considering this phenomena, it is good to ask:
Do I have this loving boldness operating in my life?
If not, it may mean that you need to be filled for the first time or afresh with the power of God’s Holy Spirit (Acts 4:8;13:9).
As the Apostle Paul exhorted:
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit
Ephesians 5:18
To even think about participation in such a work necessitates a discussion concerning borrowed faith vs. an owned faith.
A borrowed faith, like the axes that the sons of the prophets were using, can be useful at the beginning.
It can come from family, friends or the community in which you live.
However, if you simply rely on someone else’s faith in Jesus, than that which you are using, when tested, can be lost.
How often have you seen people go out into the world, challenged by the alternative ideas and lifestyles to which they were previously unexposed, end up losing the borrowed faith on which they were standing?
It happens more often than we’d like.
It is because people do not do what is necessary to take ownership of their own faith.
Now when the work on the expansion of the meeting place of the sons of the prophets was to begin, Elisha was invited to oversee the work.
No one needs to be a Lone Ranger when pursuing the truths of God.
You have God given teachers and authority for a reason.
Yet..
How do I know if I have a merely borrowed faith?
You know that you have a borrowed faith if you are just repeating the things that you’ve heard all of your life without having ever really searched out God in the Scripture allowing the Bible to speak for itself.
This can present obstacles to growth - both for you as an individual and in the church.
When considering Pentecost specifically, we need to ask:
Has the church lost an axe head that was sharp and meant to cut through the firmly rooted trunks of disbelief in our culture by the power of God?
My testimony of coming to Jesus suggests the great benefit of this “sharp axe.”
Pastor and theologian A.W. Tozer is credited as saying this:
“If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95 percent of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference. If the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church, 95 percent of what they did would stop, and everybody would know the difference.”
— A. W. Tozer
As we see in the Scripture, Christ’s goal for every believer is to become intimately acquainted with the third member of the Trinity - God, the Holy Spirit.
This empowers us to own our faith.
An Owned Faith
You will find true contentment when you take ownership of your faith.
How do I work with God to own my faith?
We find clues in the celebration of Pentecost.
The very day of Pentecost commemorates the expansion of the Kingdom of God to the nations.
And this is God’s purpose - to bring salvation to the world that he loves.
Pentecost has its roots in the annual convocation of the Feast of Weeks, where no other work was to be done.
Author Jeff Oliver explained it this way:
“Exactly 50 days after Passover is the Jewish Feast of Weeks, which begins on Pentecost. The word Pentecost simply means "50th" day. This festival commemorates the descent of Moses from Mount Sinai when God gave his law (the Old Covenant) to the children of Israel. This event occurred 50 days after Israel's exodus from Egypt. The Feast of Weeks was also a celebration of the grain harvest and offering of first fruits to God. It was a season of great jubilation and celebration. Likewise, exactly 50 days after Christ delivered God's people from both bondage and death on the cross, you guessed it, the Holy Spirit descended from heaven and ushered in a New Covenant and a new season of harvest and joy began—the church age.”
— Jeff Oliver
What we must know is that before God expands us, he usually slows us down in some way to reflect and pray.
This is what happened with the disciples prior to Pentecost.
This is what has happened to us as a result the Pandemic.
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away. And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
Acts 1:12-15
In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said...
This was a time of prayer, preparation and reorganization for God’s Kingdom expansion to come.
Even in this shutdown we see this to be true as going virtual has not caused us to go backwards, but has expanded the reach of the global church.
We encourage you to study the book of Acts, an early account of the history of the church.
There you will see that the gifts of God were released to the followers of Jesus when they were filled with the Holy Spirit.
Throughout the Scripture we find that sound theology was meant to lead to an experience of the realities of Christ (John 5:39,40).
God never meant doctrine to be an end in and of itself.
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”
Acts 2:1-12
It culminated with the Apostle Peter preaching the gospel and God birthing the New Testament church.
Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
Acts 2:36-41
So we must ask:
What are we to do if we are unexposed or have lost these truths?
What if we had bad experiences with caricatures of what God actually intended?
We are to remember that God’s solution for abuse is not disuse, but proper use.
If you have questions about God, go to someone who is actually walking with God and knows his Word to help you find answers.
Don’t make your first option to go to an antagonist of God.
This would be like if I heard something deriding about you on social media, and instead of talking to your close family and friends to find out who you really are, I speak only to the person who is trolling you online.
And even worse, I never speak to you!
I would, at best, walk away with a negatively tinged perspective of who you are, and more than likely choose to have nothing to do with you - because of course that’s easier.
Has anyone ever been there before?
How often are we guilty of treating the Holy Spirit and one another that way?
You learn from those who ARE FAITHFUL TO THE WORD OF GOD and can help you DEVELOP your own faith in God’s miracle power.
The key Is that when the sons of the prophets lost the axe head and needed a miracle, they went to Elisha who had a history with miracles.
They did not go to someone who was opposed to miracles to see if the miracle could be done.
It would be like wanting to start a new business for yourself during the pandemic, but only speaking to someone who has solely worked a 9-5 job all of their lives.
There is a beauty in how they’ve made a living.
Their faithfulness is to be commended.
Yet you may not gather the entrepreneurial know how from one who is committed to and only feels comfortable in that construct.
Elisha took a stick and went to the exact place where the borrowed axe head had fallen.
He threw the stick in and the axe head began to float.
He then told the prophet to pick up the recovered axe head.
God performs miracles when we allow the revelation of God’s Word to infuse our understanding with new life.
When we see something in the Word of God that was missing in our walk with him, we need to pick up what was lost.
The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men.
Acts 17:10-12
Let’s just say that we long for God to move mightily as he did in Scripture.
If this is so, may we study the Word in a precepts manner, allowing the Bible to speak for itself regarding what God has done and can do again.
May we stay tethered to the texts, laboring to unpack what is there (exegesis) rather than imposing our own interpretation on the text (eisegesis).
Then, may we contend for what we see in Scripture.
May we cry out to God as the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha for help when the axe head was lost.
What happens when I begin to own my faith?
I find my role to help the expansion.
Every one of the sons of the prophets had a role - they each got a log to help build.
Have you picked up your log?
What is your part?
What are the gifts of God that he wants to release to you by the power of the Holy Spirit?
If you are looking for a catalog of Biblical options, we encourage you to read:
Romans 12:3-8
I Corinthians 12-14
Ephesians 4:1-16
I Peter 4:7-11
As you study these passages, the question is not whether these gifts are present or available.
The question is whether you are owning your faith, obeying the admonition of Scripture to be in pursuit of these things (I Corinthians 12:1; 14:1).
We can do this all confidently through our trust in Jesus, the Savior to whom we belong.
A Savior To Whom We Belong
True contentment is the product of belonging to a benevolent Savior.
If this is true, how then shall we live?
You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
1 Corinthians 6:19b,20
This posture of not being my own includes embracing the parts of God with which I am not comfortable.
It includes laying down any borrowed thoughts and picking up any lost truths that I need from God’s Word.
Just as Elisha was invited into the expansion project of the prophets, the Holy Spirit needs to be invited into all of our efforts.
By itself, the axe head in Elisha’s story sinks.
So do our efforts without the intervention of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.
When Elisha threw the stick in the water, God lifted the axe head to float.
The stick that Elisha threw into the water foreshadowed the cross that can bring us into God’s supernatural realities.
Through the cross of Christ, God resurrects our drowning efforts in life and in ministry.
Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Matthew 14:22-33
When Jesus enters the mix, we are lifted to do things that in the natural we could not do on our own.
Jesus called Peter onto the water.
Jesus calls us into the power of the Holy Spirit today.
How should I respond?
I should humbly pursue:
The Precepts of God found in his Word
The Power of God given by the Holy Spirit
The People of God with whom I build
The Purpose of God which governs my pursuits
Have you received the Jesus of the Bible as Lord?
Are you continually being filled with the Holy Spirit so that you can be a powerful witness for Jesus?
Are you committed to a church, a company of believers with whom you’re growing?
Are you engaged in God’s good work to see his gospel go to the nations?
Jesus paid for our sins on the cross so that through repentance and faith, we could be forgiven of our wrongdoing.
When you come to God not on your own merit, but the merit of Christ, you now have access to God’s supernatural power.
The Holy Spirit is a gift to those who would believe.
Let’s own our faith today to come into true contentment by the grace of Calvary and the power of Pentecost.
Study
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Second City Church - True Contentment - Pastor Rollan Fisher 2020