Faith That Does Not Waver — Brian Long

I'm not that old, but I'm old-fashioned, and I guess I'm simple-minded too, but that's, you know, God uses us in our differences. So I thank God for brothers that can do this technology, and I do. I thank God for Jeremy Strang.

He just approached me one day and asked if he could put that website together, and I said, if it'll glorify the Lord, do it. And so he's done it, and I am grateful for him, and thank you for that. I know Paul is very gifted in that as well, and God uses that.

He really does for his glory. Some of us still have his old yellow paper that we write on. So, okay, good to see you again this afternoon, and new faces that have come in. I praise God that you're here.

Faith That Pleases God

Most of you are familiar with what the Scripture says in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 6, but without faith, it is impossible to please God. It is impossible to please God. No matter what you do, no matter what you say, without faith, it is impossible to please God.

So what do you think really does please the Lord when He finds a people that believe Him, that trust Him, that take Him at His word? There's only two places that I'm aware of in Scripture where there's reference to our Lord Jesus Christ marveling.

Marveling. That's to be astonished, to be amazed. What would ever cause the Lord Jesus Christ to marvel? There's two places in Scripture. One of them is in Matthew chapter 8. These aren't our main text this afternoon, but I want you to see something leading up to that.

In Matthew chapter 8, this is the Roman centurion, and you remember he came to the Lord Jesus and he said to Jesus, Lord, my servant lies at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus said unto him, I will come and heal him.

And he said, Lord, I'm not even worthy for you to come under my roof. Just speak the word and my servant shall be healed. And the Bible says in verse 10 of Matthew chapter 8, when Jesus heard it, he marveled.

He marveled and he said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. It so delights the heart of God when His people believe Him, take Him at His word and trust Him so much so that He marveled.

Now, where's the other place in the Scripture in reference to Jesus marveling? There we go to Mark chapter 6. Mark chapter 6 in verse 4, Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, but in his own country and among his own kin and in his own house.

And he could there do no mighty work save that he laid his hands on a few sick folk and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went around about the village's teaching. Think of that.

In Matthew, he's marveling over a man's faith. In Mark, he's marveling over the unbelief of people who have witnessed him, seen him in flesh and blood, seen what he has done. And still they do not believe.

And I think one of the saddest scriptures in the Bible is that he could not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. God forbid that when you and I stand before the judgment seat of Christ and we will, we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

God forbid that we are shown all these great and precious promises that we could have had, but we never believed that written across our life. As he could not do many mighty works, he did not do many mighty works there or with him or with her or with them or with that church because of this reason, only unbelief.

Charles Spurgeon said to doubt the Lord Jesus Christ is to crown his head with thorns of the sharpest kind. It is an insult to God who is absolutely faithful 100 of the time. Never has God ever broke a promise.

God cannot lie. He is faithful and true through and through. And for us to doubt him, for us to not believe his word is to crown his head with thorns of the sharpest kind is to grieve him. He said to those children of Israel, how long will this people provoke me?

How long before they believe me after all the works that I've done among them? God is looking for people who will trust him in these days, who will actually read this book and believe it and obey it. I want to talk to you about faith, but specifically I want to speak to you this afternoon about unwavering faith, having a faith that does not waver.

James on Unwavering Faith

And we'll begin in James chapter one. James chapter one. We'll start in verse five. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.

But let him ask in faith nothing wavering for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all of his ways.

Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering, unwavering, unshakable faith. And God is calling for this kind of faith in the context of prayer here. Let him ask of God. So he's he's he's saying, let us pray with unwavering, unshakable faith.

Don't be double minded like a drunken man staggering to and fro. Yeah, I trust him. No, I don't know about that. Yeah, I believe it. No, I don't know. A single eye. God, you are faithful. Lord, you have spoken.

I believe you unwavering, unshakable faith. Now turn, if you will, to Romans chapter four, where we see the example of a man who had this kind of faith that God is looking for. Romans chapter four. Oh, the faith of Abraham, beginning in verse 16.

Therefore, it is of faith that it might be by grace to the end, the promise might be sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.

As it is written, I've made the a father of many nations before him whom he believed, even God, who quicken at the dead and call it those things which be not as though they were who against hope, believed in hope that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken.

So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead when he was about 100 years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief.

Look at that. He staggered not. That means he didn't waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God and being fully persuaded that what he had promised, he was also able to perform.

And therefore, it was imputed to him for righteousness, unshakable faith of Abraham. This is what God is looking for, brothers and sisters. We're facing dark days, and I believe 100 percent that I've heard from the Lord and God and many of you have as well.

God wants to do a mighty, mighty work in our day. But I constantly hear those words of the Lord Jesus in my mind and heart. When the son of man comes, shall he find faith on the earth? He must find a people who believe him, who really take him at his word and believe.

Yes, the days are dark. Yes, the hour is critical, but they have always been that way before revival, before a mighty move of God. Ian Paisley used to say, yes, it's true that that the days are going to are getting worse and worse, but that doesn't mean God's getting weaker and weaker.

God is omnipotent. He's almighty. Nothing is impossible with our God, and we dare not limit him through unbelief. So we need unshakable faith. Now, again, I'm a simple man and I want to give you a simple some simple points, but they're profound truths from the word of God.

The F.A.I.T.H. Acrostic

How many letters are in faith? Five F .A .I .T .H. And I want to give you this acrostic. I'll give it to you up front and then we'll look at each one. F .A .I .T .H. Focus. Faith has a focus. And we're going to talk about the focus of faith.

A. Active obedience. Faith without works is dead. Active obedience. I. Intimacy with God. It's not knowing just about God. If all you have is head knowledge, you will not make it in the coming storm. It's knowing God.

Nothing can replace a personal relationship. Walking with God as Enoch walked with God. Intimacy. F .A .I .T .H. Focus. A. Active obedience. I. Intimacy. T. Tenacity. Tenacious. Faith is tenacious. It lets lays hold of God in prayer, lays hold of the word of God, lays hold of the hem of his garment and will not let go.

F .A .I .T .H. is tenacious. And H. We could say hope, but I want to say hearing. F .A .I .T .H. comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And specifically, we'll see today the promise of God. He staggered not at the promise of God, but was strong in faith, strong in faith.

Faith Focuses on God's Character

So first of all, the focus of faith, something we see over and over again throughout Scripture and especially here in this passage in Romans four, all through the 11th chapter of Hebrews, is that God is constantly bringing his people into direct contact with human impossibility face to face with what is absolutely impossible in the flesh.

God is doing that. The truth is, our entire Christian life, this whole walk of faith consists of having obstacles that stand in the way, many of them absolute human impossibilities. I've had people tell me we were praying for one man in a town where I lived and I had two people say that man will never get saved.

One guy said, you're wasting your time with Leon Alts. But the church started praying and the church believed. And I'll need to tell that story another time, perhaps in detail. But God got a hold of a hard bully of a man and he broke him to pieces and he saved him.

And that man became one of the most glorious, wonderful testimonies in all of the community. It was amazing what God had done. So what I'm saying is what looks impossible to man is not impossible with God.

So he brings us face to face with impossibilities here in our text. Abraham and Sarah were facing the impossibility of having a child, a hundred year old man and his wife, almost the same impossible for them to have a baby.

But God said it and God calls the things that are not as though they were. That's the human impossibility. Here's the faith. You find a man that didn't stagger at the promise. Once he got the word of God, he laid hold of it in faith and he would not waver.

Praise be to God. Now, faith has a focus. And what is the focus of faith? The focus of faith? First of all, what is it to focus? Let's think about use the example of a photographer. He takes that camera.

He finds the object of what he wants to take a photograph of and he zeros in on it. He's focusing the lens. There's a verse in Isaiah 40 that says, Behold, your God. Behold, that's John the Baptist said of the Lord Jesus.

Behold, the Lamb of God. That's not a passive glance. Oh, look. No, it's look intently gaze upon. Behold, focus. What is the focus of faith? The focus of faith is God himself, the character of God, the nature of God.

Our God is faithful. Our God is absolutely faithful, absolutely faithful all the time. He says, the Lord, your God does not change Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever. And so faith focuses upon God, focuses upon his faithfulness, beholds him, fixes our eyes upon him.

You and I will never have strong faith, great faith by looking to ourselves. You can't do it. As long as you look at yourself, you'll be in despair, depressed. It doesn't come from there and see anything valuable in the kingdom of God.

Satan has a counterfeit for. So you have the word of faith, faith movement that came in as if there's this faith in faith or faith in your words. So I'm looking to my words. Am I saying the right thing?

Am I saying it enough? Who am I looking at yourself? And you'll never have faith, unshakable faith like that. The only way to have a faith that does not waver is looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

The only way. So faith has the focus and the focus of faith is God. Now you see, that's the difference. There are some that would say, no, you just got to confess it. You have a sick child. You say he's not sick.

He's not sick. No, Jesus never rebuked anybody for coming to him and say, my child is sick. We've got to be honest. We look at the circumstance, but we don't gaze upon it. We acknowledge. Yes, he's sick.

But Lord, I look to you. Yes, it's dark and we and this world is wicked right now. But Lord, God of revival. Yes, this looks like a hard case. We've been praying for him for 50 years and his heart still seems hard as stone.

But Lord, you see, we look at the circumstance, but we don't focus there. We gaze upon Christ. We gaze upon the faithfulness of God, just like Peter got out of the boat and fixed his eyes on Jesus. And the Lord miraculously carried him over, lifted him up and carried him across that water as he walked across water.

It defied the law of gravity. And I tell you, with our eyes upon Christ, sin and death, longing to pull us down, the world longing to swallow us up, the powers of darkness longing to sink you, keep your eyes on Christ and you will have unshakable faith.

You will walk and defy that law of sin and death because it's God and his grace that carries us. It's the power of the Holy Spirit. But we must be looking unto Jesus. Faith has a focus and the focus of faith is Christ.

What kind of photographer turns the lens around to take a picture of himself? Well, there's a lot of them doing that today. There's plenty of selfies. There's plenty of selfie Christians to look at me, look at me, look at me.

Faith Expresses Itself in Active Obedience

No, look away. Look to Jesus. The only way to have unshakable faith. Now we move to a. Active obedience, active obedience. James again says faith without works is dead. Faith without works is dead. Oh, faith.

Obedience follows faith like the cart follows the horse. This faith and works is something God has joined together and let no man put asunder. When God puts man and woman together, husband and wife, he says, let nothing separate.

You cannot separate faith and works. We're not saved by works. We're saved by grace through faith. But saving faith works. Saving faith works. Saving faith over. Why do you call me Lord? Lord, Jesus said, and do not the things that I say.

You cannot call him Lord and say there's two words that don't go together. No, Lord, if you say no to him, he's not your Lord. And if you say, Lord, you cannot say no. When he gives you his word, his commandment, it's yes, Lord.

Yes, Lord, I will trust you and obey. Yes, Lord. Obedience always follows faith. You cannot separate the two. If you believe God, you will obey God. If you love God, you will obey God. Now look at our example, Abraham, Genesis chapter 12.

God calls this man to, you know, sometimes we read past these things too fast because we know the rest of the story. Imagine being Abraham and Sarah. Let me read it to you. Imagine being Abraham and Sarah and hearing this from the Lord.

Genesis chapter 12. The Lord calls Abraham to Lee. He says, now the Lord had said unto Abram, get thee out of thy country. Leave your country. Where are we going? He didn't say that. Leave your country.

And from thy kindred, that's your family, everybody, you know. And from thy father's house. Unto a land that I will show you. He didn't know where he was going. He didn't know how long he would be there.

He had none of the details. He had the word of God and he trusted in the character of God. Can you imagine? I want you to pack up right now. Leave your leave your all your relatives, leave the only country you've ever known.

And you're going to go to a place that I will show you. And what was this man's response? Verse four. So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken unto him. Faith that does not waver, obeys God and leaves all the consequences to him.

It's not essential that I have all the answers. It is essential that I obey what I know. I'm not as disturbed anymore by not being able to explain all of the Bible because I'm more burdened about believing and obeying what I do know.

And I believe this book cover to cover. I believe it's the word of God. Absolutely. The word of God inspired infallible. And I believe it. Can I explain every part of it? No, but I believe him and I obey him and I know whatever he says he will do, he will do.

He is a faithful God, but he calls us to be obedient. Now, that was hard enough. Leave your country, go to a land. I will show you not knowing where he would go. But what about fast forward a few years when he says, Abram, Abraham, I want you to take your son.

Your only son, the son whom you love. Take him up on this Mount Moriah and offer him there as a sacrifice, a burnt offering. God has never desired child sacrifice. We know that from Scripture. Never did he say it even entered in my mind, but he's testing this man's faith and he's also painting a beautiful picture of what he would do with his son one day on a mount called Calvary.

But did Abram understand all of that? No, but did he obey? He got up and he took his son and for three days they go up this mountain. Can you imagine if it were us? All the questions. Did I really hear from the Lord all of these things, but this man so trusted God without unwavering faith and his son must have trusted because he's not just a little boy at this point, lays his son down on the altar.

Son, I have to do this. But the Scripture says Abram had Abraham had such faith in God. He didn't stagger at the promise. He believed that even after he killed his son, God would raise him from the dead.

And he obeyed to the point of lifting the knife until God said, Abraham, Abraham. Now I know. You fear me, you trust me. And he gave him back. Is there an Isaac in your life that you need to lay down on the altar that you've not fully trusted the Lord with?

It's all of Jesus or none of him. And if you do not trust him with all, you do not trust him at all. He is worthy of all of our faith, of absolute surrender and of absolute obedience. We can say we believe God all day long, but if we don't obey his word, we really don't have unwavering faith.

There was a famous tightrope walker, Charles Blondin. And one time he put a rope across Niagara Falls and he walked across. It was an absolute amazing feat. But then it got more amazing. He carries a sack of potatoes across.

There was one time he carried a little portable stove and he set it down on that tightrope above Niagara Falls and he fried him up some eggs. Amazing. But then the day came, he says, he takes the wheelbarrow and he takes the wheelbarrow with it.

I think he had something heavy in it. He took it across the rope and everybody cheered. Everybody yelled, you're the greatest. You're the greatest tightrope walker of them all. And he says, how many of you believe that I can put a man in this wheelbarrow and take him across to the other side?

And everybody shouted, we believe we believe you can do it. You're the greatest of all. And he says, all right, who will volunteer? Nobody moved. Yeah, we believe we believe you can do it. But who will actually get in the wheelbarrow?

No one did. Later, they say there was a man that actually got on his back. And Charles walked across the tightrope with this man on his back and got to the other side. That's faith. That's believing that the one who's holding you will not drop you.

You say you trust Jesus. Do you trust him so much to know he will not drop me? He will never leave me and he will never forsake me, regardless of what I see with my eyes. The Bible says we do not walk by, but we walk by faith.

We walk by faith and your obedience. Active obedience says whether or not you really trust the Lord. If focus upon the Lord, a actively obey I intimacy with God, faith that does not waver is rooted and grounded in knowing God.

Unwavering Faith Requires Intimacy with God

Listen, the husband who has a godly, faithful wife, trust his wife. Why? Because he knows his wife. Someone could come to him and say something way off about his wife, and he'll know if that's true or not, because he knows her.

And the wife who has a godly, faithful husband, trust her husband. Why? Because she knows him. And you trust God. We trust God primarily. Why? Because we know him. And I'm going to tell you again, if all the knowledge you have of God is up here, head knowledge, you will not have unwavering faith.

You will shake when everything that is shaken, that can be shaken. You will shake if all you have is a head knowledge of Christ. If all you have is a head knowledge of the Bible, and even if you can quote chapter and verse, you know who else can do that?

The devil himself. But he doesn't believe he doesn't repent. He doesn't obey. Unwavering faith is unwavering because it knows he knows God. She knows God. It's this personal relationship with God. You know him.

Jesus said this is eternal life, that they might know you the only true God in Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. I ask you, do you know him? Not just about him, but do you know him? Can you say I know him?

You know, every time I preach and today is no different. I know that there are brothers and sisters in this room that have far more knowledge than I do. And I believe there are brothers in here that are walking closer to God than I am.

And I respect. But and especially a place like this, no doubt some of you have incredible knowledge of Bible prophecy and you've studied in time events and you know this and that's good and I commend you.

But can I tell you what should supersede that? Not just studying the Bible to know in time events and Bible prophecy, something even more critical and important than that. Studying the Bible to know God, to know the heart of God, to know him intimately, to know him personally, to be on your knees, shut in alone with God with this holy word and say, Lord, I'm not studying to prepare a sermon.

I'm not studying to puff up my head. I'm not studying to try and impress somebody with how much I know. I'm opening this book because I want you to speak to me. Reveal yourself to me. Bring me into a closer, intimate relationship with you.

Now, did our. Father Abraham have that kind of faith, intimacy with God? Remember this before God judged Sodom and Gomorrah, he said this, shall I hide from Abraham what I'm about to do? Incredible. At least three times in the word of God, Abraham is called the friend of God.

Can God call you his friend? Shall I hide from you what I'm about to do? He had a relationship with God. He had a personal walk with God and brothers, this may be the most important part of the whole acrostic intimacy with God.

Do you know him? The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him. He will show them his covenant. He will reveal himself to those who seek to know his heart, to know his ways, to know him and to walk with him.

We got to go beyond head knowledge to heart relationship with God. And when you have that, you can have absolute, unwavering, unshakable faith when everything around you shakes and falls apart. I know whom I have believed.

Amen. And he will keep me. So F .A .I. now we're at T. Tenacity, tenacious faith is unwavering because it's in that it's tenacious. It will not let go. Now look again in our text, verse 20, Romans chapter four.

Tenacious Faith Perseveres in Prayer

He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God and being fully persuaded that what he had promised he was able also to perform. He laid hold of God and was absolutely persuaded, fully persuaded that that is, I won't let go of God because I'm 100 percent sure he's going to give us this child.

I won't stagger at this promise because I'm 100 percent fully persuaded what God said he will do. He will do. How diligent will a fisherman be if he doesn't believe there's any fish in this lake? He's not going to fish very long.

How diligent and persistent will a gold miner be if he's in this dark cave of a tunnel and he's chipping away, but he doesn't believe there's anything on the other side of that rock? He's not going to go very long.

And a lot of people pray that way. Well, I've prayed and I didn't get an answer. So I stopped. You wavered. You wavered because you didn't believe the promise. Ask and you shall receive. Seek and you will find.

Knock and it will be open. That's keep on asking. Keep on seeking. Keep on knocking. I'm saying if you have a promise from God. We're not just about praying about nonsense, but once you have a promise and you have a revelation of this is the will of God, this is going to glorify God.

This is what God says. Therefore, I will pray and not faint, persevere in prayer because, you know. There's going to be a breakthrough. They say in those old gold mining days, there'd be gold miners that work their tails off for months on end, digging a hole in the side of the mountain and they never struck anything and they give up.

And then, lo and behold, someone comes in behind them and starts chipping away at the same claim. And only a few days later, he had a whole vein of gold. Had the first man only pressed on and he only had some tenacity to keep going.

How many times do we pray but lose heart before the time? God says in Isaiah that he doesn't cause a woman to go into labor and not intend for her to give birth. I'm paraphrasing in my own words. Of course, you can read it in Isaiah chapter 65 and neither does God give a burden to pray for no purpose.

If he's given us a burden to pray for revival, it's his intent to move mightily among his people one more time and we can lay hold of him and prevail in prayer, knowing those are labor pains that one day will give forth a baby.

Keep on, keep on pressing on. Think of that woman with the issue of blood. If I can only but touch the hem of his garment. Why was she so persistent in pushing through the crowd? She was so because she knew he's my only hope.

There is no plan B. There is nowhere else to go. There is no one else that has eternal life. There's no one else that can help me. No man can help me. Nothing can help me but Jesus. And in her tenacity, she pushes through the crowd until she touches the hem of his garment and she's healed.

But if she had said, oh, it's too hard and she quits. And perhaps one of my favorites, we could look at the persistent widow, we could look at so many in the scripture, but I think my favorite of all is that Canaanite woman in Matthew chapter 15.

Look at this with me. If you were at the conference, you saw this, but many of us weren't there. So I want to show it again. Matthew chapter 15. Let's take a lesson in faith from this woman on tenacity.

Faith is tenacious. Unwavering faith is absolutely tenacious. Matthew chapter 15, starting in verse 21. Then Jesus went thence and departed into the coast of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coast and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David.

My daughter is grievously vexed with the devil. Can you imagine? I have a daughter and she's demon possessed. Have mercy upon me, Jesus. Some of us know what it is to have a child go astray. Child that's not walking with God and how that tears your heart out.

This woman's daughter was demon possessed and she knew the only one who had an answer for that was the Lord Jesus Christ himself. I'm coming to you, Lord. Have mercy upon me. She's praying, but verse 23 says he answered her, not a word.

Now, here's the test. Do you have unshakable faith that is absolutely tenacious? If you don't and you prayed and he answers you, not a word, you stop praying. You say, I already prayed about that. I've had people tell me, why do you pray about that, about that again, over and over again?

Isn't that a lack of faith? I say, how many times did Jesus pray in the Garden of Gethsemane over the same thing? How many times did the Apostle Paul pray, Lord, take this storm out of my side? You don't just pray because you didn't hear a word.

You stop. Not if you have faith, not if you believe, really believe that Jesus is your only hope and your only answer. No, he didn't answer her a word, but she doesn't stop because she's tenacious. Verse 23, he answered her, not a word.

And his disciples came and besought him, saying, send her away, for she crieth after us. So now now she's praying. Not only does the Lord not answer her, but now others, the disciples who are supposed to be followers of the Lord, discourage her from praying.

And they say, send her away. Go on, woman. Canaanite woman. And many would say, well, he didn't answer me and everybody else is telling me I should quit. So I'll quit. Not if you had to have faith that will not waver, not if you have tenacious faith.

Verse 24, she's still there. But Jesus answers and says, I'm not sent, but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Oh, that's good news. But what about for her? It sounds like he's saying. I can't answer you, I'm not sent for you, I'm sorry.

That would surely cause most most of us to quit praying and to go about our way. But it won't if you really believe that he is my only savior and he is my only my daughter's only hope. There is no doctor.

There is no one else that can help a demon possessed daughter. So what does she do? Verse 25. Then she came and worshipped him. Faith. If you're not going to answer my prayer right now, Lord. Whether you do or not, I worship you because you are God and you are worthy.

Her response was worship. I worship you. But then she still doesn't stop praying. It says she worshipped him saying, Lord, help me. Help me. You say, I don't know how to pray. You know how you learn to pray.

You get face to face with the desperate need. And you don't need some long, eloquent, fancy prayer. Lord, help me. That's prayer. Lord, help me help my daughter. This is desperation. This is a critical hour.

I need you. Verse 26. But he answered and said, it is not meat to take the children's bread and cast it to dogs. Wow. What is the Lord doing? She's desperate. You know what he's doing? He's testing a faith, a pure faith that he knows is there.