- Let’s say you were given a day to live, “ano ang mga bagay, bilin at pamana na iiwan mo sa iyong mga minamahal?” [share you answer to a person nearest to you]
- Ang tawag doon sa ating ipapasa ay “Legacy”?
- “Legacy” – “anything handed down from, or as from, an ancestor” [www.yourdictionary.com] / (legal definition) “A gift of money or of personal property, title to which is passed under the terms of a will” [www.lectlaw.com].
- Billy Graham – “Our days are numbered. One of the primary goals in our lives should be to prepare for our last day. The legacy we leave is not just in our possessions, but in the quality of our lives. What preparations should we be making now? The greatest waste in all of our earth, which cannot be recycled or reclaimed, is our waste of the time that God has given us each day.” [www.thinkexist.com]
- One of the best thing that we could transmit/transfer to people is the gift of “faith.”
WHAT DO WE MEAN BY “FAITH” - Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology: Faith – “belief, trust, and loyalty to a person or thing. Christians find their security and hope in God as revealed in Jesus Christ, and say "amen" to that unique relationship to God in the Holy Spirit through love and obedience as expressed in lives of discipleship and service.” [www.biblecrosswalk.com]
- Our faith is a “living faith” because we all serve a “living Lord.”
“YOU CAN NEVER GIVE WHAT YOU NEVER HAD”
- Faith must start inside of us.• Before we can transfer it, we must know “what it is” and “how it works (it can be applied).”
- Think Intergenerationally…
- (Monday – 15 Sept…“Lehman Brothers”, 4th largest investment bank filed for bankruptcy protection together with Merrill Lynch and AIG – with Morgan Stachs and Goldman Stanley surviving…reason: “too much money invested in pools of investments in mortgage security[cnn.com]…result: their collapse puts tens of thousands of jobs at risk, including over 3,000 in NYC – pending Global Recession…)
THE LADDER OF LIVING FAITH 1st Step: Saving Faith - Ephesians 2:8-9 (TEV) For it is by God's grace that you have been saved through faith. It is not the result of your own efforts, but God's gift, so that no one can boast about it.
- “Saving Faith” (Easton’s 1897 Bible Dictionary) – is so called because it has eternal life inseparably connected with it. It cannot be better defined than in the words of the Assembly's Shorter Catechism: "Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, whereby we receive and rest upon him alone for salvation, as he is offered to us in the gospel." [www.biblegateway.com]
- All Christians started with “salvation.”
- This marks the point that we started with “saving faith” our lives will end with “saving faith.”
2nd Step: Sustaining Faith - Romans 1:17 (CEV) The good news tells how God accepts everyone who has faith, but only those who have faith. It is just as the Scriptures say, "The people God accepts because of their faith will live."
- Habakkuk 2:4 (CEV )"I, the Lord, refuse to accept anyone who is proud. Only those who live by faith are acceptable to me."
- Description of “Sustaining Faith…” Habakkuk 3:16-19(CEV) (16) When I heard this message, I felt weak from fear, and my lips quivered. My bones seemed to melt, and I stumbled around. But I will patiently wait. Someday those vicious enemies will be struck by disaster. (17) Fig trees may no longer bloom, or vineyards produce grapes; olive trees may be fruitless, and harvest time a failure; sheep pens may be empty, and cattle stalls vacant—(18) but I will still celebrate because the Lord God saves me. (19) The Lord gives me strength. He makes my feet as sure as those of a deer, and he helps me stand on the mountains.
- Saving faith I good but it is not enough to make us “lasting/enduring” Christians.
- We need faith to sustain us from every trials, temptations, crisis, problems that come our way.
- Dennis Bratcher (www.cri/voice.com): A picture of sustaining faith is a “total and radical trust expressed in a life lived as if God really were sovereign in His creation! That is faithfulness. That is life! Life for the creature is totally dependent on the Creator. Faithfulness is trusting the Creator with life!
3rd Step: Solid Faith - Jude 1:3 (ESV) Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.
- Jude 1:20-21 (ESV) (20) But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; (21) keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.
- Remember: God did not only designed us to be “sustaining people” we also need as sense of permanency.
- A “faith” which is solid is something we can “defend” (if needed…even with our life).
- Jack Dempsey (heavyweight prizefighter) “The best defense is a good offence. [www.wikianswers.com]
- Hymn by Edward Mote (My Hope is Built on Nothing Less):
- My hope is built on nothing less
- Than Jesus’ blood and righteous;
- No merit of my own I claim
- But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
- On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;
- All other ground is sinking sand.
4th Step: Sincere Faith - 1 Timothy 1:4-5 (RAB) (4) Kapag naaalala ko ang iyong mga pagluha, kinasasabikan kong makita ka, upang ako'y mapuno ng kagalakan. (5) Naaalala ko ang iyong tapat na pananampalataya, isang pananampalataya na unang nabuhay kay Loida na iyong lola at kay Eunice na iyong ina at ngayon, ako'y nakakatiyak, ay namamalagi sa iyo.
- This level is where faith is tested with “purifying fire”
- What’s needed is “integrity.” Integrity can be defined as “truth to self.”
- People are in search of persons who are intact because they are true to themselves.
5th Step: Super Faith - Hebrews 11:5-6 (RMBB) (5) Dahil sa pananampalataya sa Diyos, si Enoc ay hindi nakaranas ng kamatayan. Hindi na siya nakita sapagkat kinuha siya ng Diyos. Sinasabi sa kasulatan na si Enoc ay naging kalugud-lugod bago siya kinuha ng Diyos. (6) Kung hindi tayo sumasampalataya sa Diyos, hindi natin siya mabibigyang kaluguran, sapagkat ang sinumang lumalapit sa Diyos ay dapat sumampalatayang may Diyos na nagbibigay ng gantimpala sa mga nananalig sa kanya.
- Faith that encounters the supernatural presence, proclamation, and power of God.
- Faith should be thought-provoking and heart-pounding leading to action.
- Supernatural faith is faith in action (led by the Holy Spirit).
ACTION POINTS - Think Intergeneration – what you do now affects your future generation!
- Apply to Life First – you can never give what you never had!
- Pass the Faith – transfer the faith (saving, sustaining, solid, sincere, and super) with your values and lifestyle
