Walking Faith

Faith is the willingness to risk the situation on God. He won't fail you.


Scripture: Philippians 4:6, John 3, John 6, John 7:17
Topics: Trust, Peace, Anchor

Transcript

Alright thank you very much, and hello again radio friends. How in the world are you? You doing Alright today? Yes, I wait for you to answer, you know that. Many of you do answer me. A lady said to me the other day, “When you say how in the world are you, I sometimes answer, ‘Don’t ask’”. Well I know, sometimes you strike a day now and then that’s not all that wonderful. If you struck a rough day, now while I’m talking with you, look up and say, “Lord Jesus see me through this one. I’m yours”, and He will. For He hath said, “I will never”, never that is, “leave thee nor forsake thee”. God’s faithful. He’s not going to dump you now. He didn’t bring you this far to drop you now. Aren’t you glad that’s so?

Well, this is your good friend, Dr. Cook, and we’re sharing some spots, some high spots you may say, from the book of Philippians. It’s a little break in between our study of the book of Mark. I do this sometimes for no good reason at all, and it may be frustrating to you, but I just, I just like to take a break once in a while from a routine, and then come back to it. That’s what we’re doing now.

We’re in the fourth chapter of Philippians. We just finished talking about Philippians 4:6, “Don’t worry about anything but pray about everything, and as a result the peace of God that passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”. You don’t have to understand God to enjoy Him. It’s a mistake to try to figure out everything about God, including His peace, the blessings that He gives us. Understand all you can, “Consider what I say”, says Paul to Timothy, “and the Lord will give you understanding of all things”. The word “give you understanding” is a Greek word which means, put it all together, you get it all together, it makes sense. When you come to the consideration of God’s wonderful peace, which is the result of a right relationship with Him, and it says, “It passes all understanding”, can’t figure it out, but you can enjoy it.

You know, there are a lot of things in life that you don’t really understand. Do you understand how it is the when you press the light button, the light switch, the light goes on you? Oh, you say, “That’s electricity”. “Yes indeed, and what pray tell, is electricity”? “Well, that’s a current that flows through the wires”. “Yes, and what is that”? “Well, it’s a kind of energy”, and “What is that?”, if you keep on trying to understand it, you’ll come to a point where you say, “Well, it’s the electrons that flow and they are positively and negatively charged”, and so on and, and when you get through telling me all about it, then I’ll say, “Now, do you really understand what it is?”, and you say, “No, I’m not sure”.

We can understand that there is a certain reality is, for instance, the magnetic force that, that is registered in, in our world, for example, that makes the compass needle turn north in our hemisphere. The gravity that, that pulls objects toward each other, we can know that that so, but to know why it is so and how it actually works is really something else. Isn’t that true? Well, that’s just in layman’s language, mentioning some of things that you and I take for granted. We don’t necessarily understand them, nor indeed can we ‘til we get to heaven and, and, and find out all that God is built into His wonderful world and universe.

Now, he says, “The peace of God is like that”. The peace of God is like that. It passes all understanding and when you experience God’s peace you’re kept, he says, “The peace of God will keep your hearts and your minds”. There is the need for something to anchor me, something to hold me. A hysterical daughter comes to her mother crying about something so very severe that has occurred in her life, and her mother says, “You want to talk about it?”, and the daughter crying says, “No, just hold me”, and mother puts her arms around that precious gal and just holds her tightly to her own heart, and there’s a sense of peace and release. I suppose every mother has done that, sometime or other, to a child, “Just hold me”. Well, this is what the Holy Spirit of God does in your life when you commit yourself to Him, everything by prayer means commit everything to God.

And when you commit yourself to Him then the blessed Spirit of God anchors you in the very love of God, and there’s something there to hold you, to keep your heart. See, your mind is mentioned second, because the real needs of human nature start in your heart, “Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, and adulteries of murders”, and all the rest Jesus said, “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh”. Solomon said, “Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life”. The breaks in life come as a result of my heart condition my soul, my spirit, my inner life as it is related to God. So he says, “The peace of God will keep your heart”. When you commit everything to God you are held tightly in His arms of love and there isn’t any need then to fuss or to fear, because your heart is at peace.

Then your mind as well is at peace. The great questions of life and death are all answered in, in trust in the Lord Jesus. Did you know that? He said, “Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again”. Who was talking? Why, the one who created things. “All things are made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made”, says John. The creator. Who else? The sustainer, “By Him”, says Paul, “All things hold together”. The very force that holds the universe together and keeps it moving on split-second time. We still set our clocks by God’s clock, don’t we? And so that force that holds everything together is the person, the Lord Jesus Christ, and so when our Lord Jesus spoke to Nicodemus, his story is recorded there in John chapter 3, isn’t it, he said, “Nicodemus, you’re saying, ‘How, how can these things be’”, He said, “Don’t be upset about the how of it, look who’s talking to you, the one who made it all”. Your mind questions, your questions of honest doubt are settled when you commit yourself to the Lord Jesus Christ. Your average agnostic who says, “Well, I just don’t know, I just can’t be sure”, has never really committed himself the Lord Jesus.

I set for some hours on a plane beside a banker who comes from a little Midwestern town. It developed that, that he was an agnostic. He said, “There may be a God, but I don’t know”, and he was quite firm in that, in that position. I reminded him that God had been gracious to him in giving to him some relative sons-in-law and otherwise who were dear, evangelical, Bible believing Christians, and who were praying for him and that he was the object of their prayers and God was going to work in his heart. He smiled and he said, “Well, perhaps”. And then I said, “You know, you, you’ve as I understand it sir, you have never done the one thing that would make you sure whether or not there is a God”. He said, “What’s that?”, “Why”, I said, “That is to call unto God and talk to Him and commit yourself to Him”. “For whosoever call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Call unto me and I will answer, I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not”. As many as received Him, “You’ve never invited Christ in your life, have you sir”? “No, I haven’t”, he said. Well, I said, “Why don’t you”? “Well, I’m not ready to do that”. See, an agnostic, he was honest and a very smart man, I will say as I observed him. Very intelligent and honest, but still an agnostic, still saying, “I don’t know”, because he had never done the one thing that would, would prove to him what the score was.

Now, if I’m talking to honest doubters today, and I suppose I am. There’s people in this audience who have some doubts about whether or not this whole message of the Gospel, and the Word of God is true. Listen to me for a moment, will you? God offers, God offers to prove Himself to you, John 7:17 says, “If any man will do his will he shall know of the doctrine”. What is the will of God? John 6 says, “This is the will of Him that sent me that everyone that seeth the Son and believeth on Him should have everlasting life and I will raise Him up at the last day”. The will of God is that you should trust in Christ and if you’re willing to do that He says, “I’ll show you, I’ll prove myself to you”.
God is a practical God. You don’t have to be a starry eyed mystic and leave all your good sense behind when you enter into the cathedral of faith. No, you can be just as sensible as you ever were, but use that good sense mister. Use that good sense, my sister. Use it in doing the thing that God told you to do. What is it? Talk to your blessed Lord, ask Him to come into your life, commit yourself to Him, be willing to risk the situation on obeying God. That’s what faith is. Faith is the willingness to risk the situation on God. He won’t fail you. He’ll answer, oh yes He will. Keep your hearts and minds when you commit yourself to Christ, you’re kept, you’re anchored, He takes care of that.

Oh doubter, call on your Lord today, commit yourself to Him, let Him take control. This works in the area of your feelings as well. I’ve lived long enough to know that there are some feelings that we can’t control and simply dismiss them with an airy disregard. Some things lie so deep in your heart that, that no amount of talking is going to change how you feel, isn’t that true? But I’ve lived long enough to know that when you commit your feelings to the Lord and say, “Oh God, this is how it is. Have mercy on me and help me”. When you commit your feelings to God, He is able to change your emotions, your feelings, your attitudes, “Wherewithal shall a young man change his way by taking heed thereto according to Thy Word”. You start to read God’s Word and pray about your life in your feelings and your habits and your attitudes, and I can guarantee you that He will make a difference.

Oh yes. I’ve been angry, sometimes in my life and then realizing that that anger was, was smoldering in my heart. I’ve gone to my knees and I can remember feeling, feeling the smoke and the fire going out. Then the peace of God coming in. God could defuse your anger, God can heal let broken, aching heart. God can dry your tears. God can give you peace and love, instead of resentment and anxiety. God can do it, if you’ll ask Him to. So many of us have never come to God, and leveled with Him and said, “Lord, this is how it is now, please help me and please deliver me”, He will answer your prayer if you’ll simply be honest with Him and commit, commit the situation to Him. Give it to him in faith and let Him take hold. “For whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord”. Call on Him today.

Dear Father today, may we walk with Thee and commit our lives to Thee in faith, in Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Till I meet you once again by way of radio, walk with the King today and be a blessing!



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