Open the Bible

Guest (Male): Muscles grow strong as they are exercised, and in a similar way, faith grows as it is applied in particular situations where you need to trust and believe God's revealed promises and trust God in regards to his hidden plans.

Steve Hiller: Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith. I'm Steve Hiller. Glad you're with us. And Colin, it almost sounds like you're saying some of the trials and the challenges and the difficulties that we face in life are almost like maybe God's exercise class or God's gymnasium for us.

Colin Smith: God's gymnasium. That's a very good analogy indeed. I mean, anyone who's ever broken a bone knows that after it's been in a cast for a period of time, the muscle that's around the bone really needs to be worked hard and exercised in order to be strengthened again. The lack of use causes its strength to diminish.

Now faith is like that. I think a muscle is a good analogy of how faith is and how it works. It needs to be applied. And we're going to look at a story today where the disciples found themselves in a storm and Jesus said, "Where is your faith?" Well, he wasn't questioning whether they had faith. Of course they had faith; they were the followers of Jesus.

The question is, why are you not applying your faith to the situation that you're in? And that's the challenge. It's applying my confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ to what I'm facing right now so that I walk by faith and not by sight. Faith always has to be applied.

Steve Hiller: Well, that's exactly what we're looking at today from the book of Luke, chapter eight, verses 22 to 25 as we begin our message, Applied Faith. Here is Pastor Colin.

Colin Smith: Every believer needs to grow in faith, and in this series, we've been trying to look in a very practical way at how that can happen. Over these last weeks, we've identified six strategies for growing in faith. And today we're going to come back to where we started with little faith, and we're going to add a seventh strategy for growing in faith, and it's this: faith grows as it is exercised.

I find it helpful to think of faith as being like a muscle in the body. It grows in strength as it is used, as it is exercised. So, if you break a limb and then you have your leg in plaster, the muscles weaken because they are not being stretched, they are not being exercised, they are not being used. And when the cast comes off, you have to rebuild the strength of these muscles through exercise.

Muscles grow strong as they are exercised. And in a similar way, faith grows as it is applied in particular situations where you need to trust and believe God's revealed promises and trust God in regards to his hidden plans. Now, the passage that's before us today really gives us a perfect example of how faith needs to be exercised and applied in particular situations.

Most of you know this story well. Luke tells us about the occasion where Jesus got into the boat with his disciples. And he tells us that Jesus fell asleep in the boat. A storm came down on the lake, and it must have been a severe storm because as the boat was tossed about, Luke tells us that it began to fill with water.

He then tells us that the disciples awakened Jesus. It's always amazing to me that Jesus was still asleep during the storm. Only the Son of God could have slept through a storm like this. But the disciples awakened Jesus, and they say, "Master, we are perishing. We're going to go down. This is going to be the end of us all." That's what they're saying.

Notice they say, "Master, we are perishing." Here is the Savior of the world along with the 12 he has chosen to bring God's message of salvation to the nations. The hope of the ages is floating in this one little boat, and it seemed to the disciples that the whole purpose of God was going to go down and sink on this little lake.

And Luke tells us that Jesus rebuked the winds and the raging waves and they ceased and there was a great calm. And then Jesus said to his disciples, "Where is your faith?" Now, the disciples had faith in Jesus. They had left everything to follow him. They had been engaged in ministry on his behalf.

And Jesus is certainly not questioning the reality of the disciples' faith. The question here is, why have they not applied the faith that they had to the particular situation they are in? Where is your faith? Why are you not applying it to this situation? Why are you not trusting me here in the storm?

Now every believer knows what this is like. You believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you really do. You've proved him faithful in your life over many, many years. You know that nothing is impossible for him. But when an unexpected storm arises in your life, you fear that this time it might be different, that this time you might actually go down.

And Jesus asks this question, "Now, where is your faith? Why are you not exercising the faith that you have in relation to this situation you are now in?" Now, what I want us to see clearly today is that faith must be applied. It has to be exercised in regards to the particular circumstances you face at any time.

In other words, it does not work automatically. Think about the heating system in your house. It probably works on a thermostat. You set the thermostat to the temperature that you want to maintain in your house, and when the temperature drops below the temperature that you have set, well, your furnace comes on automatically.

Now faith is not like that. It does not work automatically. It has to be applied. It has to be exercised. It has to be engaged. And you do that as you trust God in relation to the particular circumstances of life that he is calling you to face.

My van has an automatic transmission. It's fine for driving here; after all, the land is pretty flat. I have to say, though, it never feels to me like real driving. And when I go back to Scotland, we rent a car, and I've noticed that when I get there, as soon as they look at my American driving license, they say, "Oh, you'll want an automatic vehicle."

And I say, "No, no, give me the real thing." There's something about engaging a gear with a clutch that just makes you feel connected to the road. And never more so than when you come to a steep hill and you go down through the gears in order to harness the power that is in the engine for the particular circumstances that you now face.

Now faith does not work automatically. It involves an intentional engagement in which you trust the Lord Jesus Christ in the circumstances that you are facing right now. And this is the question of Jesus: "Where is your faith?" I have to tell you, I've come to treasure this question in my own life, including the rebuke that lies in it.

I face a challenge where I can't see a way forward. I need to hear this question from the Lord Jesus himself: "Where is your faith? You believe in me. You've trusted your very soul and your eternity to me. Why are you not trusting me in this? Where is your faith?"

Steve Hiller: You're listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith. Our message is called Applied Faith. Now we're going to pause here, but we'll get back to this message in just a moment. Well, as you probably know, Open the Bible is listener-supported. We depend on your generosity to keep Pastor Colin's teaching on the station, available online, accessible through the Open the Bible app, or however you've connected with this ministry.

And as you give a gift of any amount this month, we want to say thank you by sending you a copy of Pastor Colin's brand new book. It's based on this current series on the radio right now called Grow in Faith. Maybe you know what it's like. You've been a believer for a little while, then a crisis erupts in your life and you say, "Now I'm really going to have to trust God through this," and it's an opportunity for him to increase or to grow your faith.

We'd love to send you this 30-day devotional book from Pastor Colin. Again, it's his brand new book and it's our thank you for your financial support. You can find out more or give online at our website: openthebible.org. Or call 1-877-OPEN-365. That's 1-877-673-6365. And again, the website is openthebible.org.

Well, if you joined us late, we're in the book of Luke, chapter eight, looking at verses 22 to 25. Back to the message. Here's Pastor Colin.

Colin Smith: Now, I want us to focus today on three situations in which faith needs especially to be applied. Some of you will know the book Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. It was written in the 17th century, and to this day it is still one of the world's best-selling books. Bunyan pictured the Christian life as a journey.

His main character was called Christian, and Christian left his hometown that was called Destruction in order to go on a journey to the Celestial City, which was Bunyan's way of referring to heaven. So, his book Pilgrim's Progress is really a description of what happens in a life of faith, pictured as a journey from the city of Destruction to the heavenly or celestial city.

And the main character, Christian, has many adventures on the way and meets with many fascinating characters. Bunyan was a very wise and perceptive pastor, and he created characters in his story that really reflected the experience of believers he served. And one of Bunyan's characters is called Little Faith.

I'm sure he took that directly from the fact that as we've seen, Jesus said, "Oh, you of little faith," on no less than five occasions. Now let me tell you Little Faith's story. Little Faith lived in a town called Sincere. And like Christian, he decided that he needed to leave this town called Sincere in order to begin a journey to the celestial city.

At one point in the story, Little Faith went down an alley that was called Deadman's Lane. It had been given that lane because of the many murders that had taken place there in the past. And while he was in Deadman's Lane, Little Faith was confronted by thieves. There were three of them, and their names were Faintheart, Mistrust, and Guilt.

Well, Faintheart was the first to speak. In a very threatening way, he demanded that Little Faith give the thieves his wallet. Little Faith was so terrified he didn't know what to do. He just stood there absolutely frozen to the spot. And so Mistrust stepped forward and seized Little Faith's wallet out of his pocket.

At that moment, Little Faith shouted for help: "Thieves! Thieves!" And at that, Guilt stepped forward with a big stick in his hand. He hit Little Faith over the head and then beat him down to the ground. And then the three thieves ran off, leaving Little Faith bleeding in Deadman's Alley.

Now notice what happened to Little Faith in this story. He was threatened by Faintheart. He was robbed by Mistrust. And he was beaten up by Guilt. Now, Bunyan here is giving to us a profound insight into Christian experience. Somewhere in your journey, you're going to meet these three thieves. Faintheart will threaten you, Mistrust will want to rob you, and Guilt will attempt to beat you up.

And when you meet these thieves, you're going to have to exercise faith. First then, exercise faith when Faintheart tries to scare you. Now you know what this is like in your own experience. You have perhaps an opportunity to serve. There's something good that you would like to pursue, but Faintheart holds you back. Fear grips you.

You don't want to fail, and so you don't step forward. You don't take a risk. You want to guard yourself at all costs against any possibility of failure. You remember Jesus told us about a fainthearted servant. In fact, there were three servants who were trusted by their master with large amounts of money.

Two of the servants invested the money and gained a very good return, and the master was well pleased and he rewarded these servants. But you remember that Jesus tells us that the third servant was afraid. He was afraid. Faintheart, in other words, was right there in front of him. "Do you really want to take the risk of investing this money? I mean, what if the investment goes south? I mean, surely the best thing you can do is dig a hole in the ground and bury it. At least then you won't lose anything and you won't be embarrassed."

And that is what this third servant did. Fear ruled him. He took no risk, he pursued no initiative, and he gained no reward. Now, what are you to do when Faintheart crosses your path and tries to scare you? Well, the answer is you must exercise faith.

And faith responds to Faintheart by affirming the strength that is yours in the Lord Jesus Christ. "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." So when you come to something that seems beyond you, exercise faith. Christ will bring you to places in your journey where you have no alternative but to depend upon him.

And faith grows when you see that what he calls you to is indeed beyond you, and you have to trust him to give you what you do not have. Tell Faintheart that Christ is yours, and in him is all the strength that you need. Your Savior is with you. And he who guards you will neither slumber nor sleep. His strength is made perfect in your weakness, and his grace is sufficient for you.

Exercise faith when Faintheart tries to scare you. And then secondly, exercise faith when Mistrust attempts to rob you. Now, in Bunyan's story, remember Little Faith was beaten up by Guilt, but it was Mistrust who robbed him. And of the two, it was Mistrust who did the greater damage.

See, Little Faith recovered from being beaten up, dusted himself off, recovered from his wounds, and then pressed on in his journey to the celestial city. But since Mistrust had taken his money, well, Little Faith had a much more difficult journey. Now to be clear, Little Faith was and is without question a child of God.

Even with little faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, you belong to him and God indeed is your father, and by his grace you will make it home. Despite being beaten up in Deadman's Lane, Little Faith at last arrived in the celestial city. But here's the thing with Little Faith: his journey was not a happy one. Bunyan says he was forced to beg as he went and that he went with many a hungry belly. That is a great description of a believer who is robbed by mistrust.

As a believer, you are rich in the Lord Jesus Christ, but Mistrust can make you live as if you were poor. Mistrust took away Little Faith's joy. It was Mistrust that made Little Faith's life and journey so difficult and often quite miserable. Now, what are you to do then when Mistrust tries to rob you?

Well, faith responds to Mistrust by affirming the riches that are yours in Jesus Christ. You are blessed with every spiritual blessing in Jesus Christ. Even if you only have a little faith, you are loved, you are called, you are forgiven, you are redeemed.

The Holy Spirit of God lives in you, and you are destined for a life of eternal joy in the glory of the Lord's immediate presence. So tell Mistrust that Christ is yours and that all the riches that are yours in him can never be taken away. Tell Mistrust, "My God will supply all that I need according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus."

Steve Hiller: You're listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith, and looking today at how you can exercise faith when Faintheart tries to scare you and when Mistrust attempts to rob you. Next time, we're going to look at how to exercise faith when Guilt wants to beat you up. So hope you'll make it a point to join us.

If you ever miss a broadcast, come and listen online. Our website is openthebible.org, and you can stream the program or download an MP3 for free. You can also listen through the Open the Bible app. It's free at your app store, and you can listen to not only this daily radio program but our weekend broadcast, our daily devotional, and find a lot more. Again, find the app at your app store or come to our website, openthebible.org.

Open the Bible depends on your generosity to bring you Pastor Colin's teaching, and we're grateful for your support. As you give a gift of any amount this month, we want to say thank you by sending you a copy of Pastor Colin's new 30-day devotional book called Grow in Faith. And Colin, what is one thing that you want people to take away from this book?

Colin Smith: Well, this is a book for ordinary Christians. You talk about grow in faith, someone might think, "Well, I'm no giant of the faith, so that's probably not for me." Well, you know, Jesus spoke on five occasions about people with little faith. "Oh, you of little faith." And that's where we start in this book, Grow in Faith.

If you feel that your faith is small, this is exactly for you. It's a place from which you can begin to grow. And you know, there are two wonderful things about little faith. One is that little faith is saving faith if it is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And the other is that little faith, because faith is a living thing, is faith that really can grow. And I think that this book will help people to grow in faith. That's our hope and our prayer as we've been working on it and preparing it, and I hope that it's going to be a real blessing to you.

Steve Hiller: Well, we'd love to send you a copy of this new book from Pastor Colin. Again, it's called Grow in Faith, and it's our thank you for your financial support this month. You can give when you call 1-877-OPEN-365 or online at openthebible.org. Again, our phone number is 1-877-673-6365 and the website is openthebible.org. For Pastor Colin Smith, I'm Steve Hiller. Thanks for listening and I hope you'll join us next time. This program is a listener-supported ministry of Open the Bible.

Colin Smith (Ad): Everyone has questions about heaven. But the question that matters most is how do you get there? Many people have the idea that if a person was to get into heaven, they'd get there by living a good enough life. Well, the thief on the cross hadn't lived a good enough life, and he wasn't in a position to start living a good life. But Jesus said to him, "Today you will be with me in paradise."

Well, if the thief could get into heaven, so can you. Heaven, How I Got Here is a compelling 60-minute film in which Stephen Baldwin portrays the thief on the cross in a one-person play. Many have found that this story opens their eyes to the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and to the hope of heaven. You can watch the Heaven, How I Got Here film for free on the Open the Bible website. For more information, visit openthebible.org/heaven. That's openthebible.org/heaven.