Epistle for June 28, 2002
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Dr. Curt Scarborough, President FreeWay Foundation June 28, 2002
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In This Issue:
Sermon: Hebrews 11:6
Bible Study: II Timothy 4:1-22
Personal Growth of the Minister
A Letter from Dr. Scarborough
It is Impossible to Please God Without Faith
(Hebrews 11:6)
I believe it was MarkTwain's character (Puddin'head Wilson) who said," Faith is believin' stuff you know
ain't so!" Although this definition is off the mark, many Christians today also miss the foundational practicality
of living by faith.
I. Grounds of Faith (Hebrews 11)
1. Faith is seeking the invisible, verse 6 and 27.
Faith is the evidence of things not seen, verse 1.
Faith says, "God exists".
2. Faith is understanding the impossible. verse 3.
Faith is accepting the fact that by God's word, the
universe came into being. Faith says God created".
3. Faith is embracing the future in the present . . .
in the "now," verse 6. Faith is the substance of
things hoped for, verse 1. Faith says God rewards/answers".
Verse 13 summarizes these ideas: "seen" . . . "assured" . . . "embraced" . . . "confessed".
II. Types of Faith
1. Intellectual faith involves the mind. I know that God is
able to do anything I request, Ephesians 3:20.
2. Emotional faith involves the heart. This is what, with all
my heart, I really want God to do! "He shall give you
the desires of your heart," Psalms 37:4 . . . if you
"delight yourself in the Lord".
3. Volitional faith involves the will. A person chooses to
believe a promise of God and acts as if it already were an
accomplished fact, I John 5:14-15.
The key is praying "according to His will." But "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God,
who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given unto him," James 1:5.
God promises to reveal His will to us, if we ask.
III. Activities of Faith (I Kings 18)
1. First, God shows man His plan and man believes.
In I Kings 18:1-2, God told Elijah His plan and Elijah
accepted God's word by faith. Even Jesus operated by
first seeing the Father's will, then by doing what
the Father did, John 5:19-20; 28-29.
2. Secondly, man acts on God's plan and confesses it
(testifies to what God is going to do), I Kings 18:41.
Jesus taught us to "speak to the mountain" . . .
which will move at our word, even if we have only small
faith, the size of a mustard seed. Mark 11:22-24.
3. Thirdly, man perseveres until God acts, I Kings 18:42-46.
Between God's promised blessings and our receiving of
them, there always is a testing time, a period in which
our faith either "keeps on keeping on" or flickers and
dies out. Elijah prayed seven times before the tiny cloud
appeared! (II Corinthians 1:20 & Hebrews 10:23, 45-46).
Elijah, this illustration of faith, was a mere man, like us! See James 5:17-18. True, Elijah prayed
and it didn't rain, and he prayed and it did rain . . . but both these prayers were based on his praying
according to God's revealed will.
IV. Levels of Faith (Isaiah 43:1-4)
Isaiah in these verses speaks of the three levels of faith:
1. Red Sea Faith This type first sees God's miraculous power
at work, then moves out. Exodus 14:21-22 illustrates this
"kindergarten" faith.
2. Jordan River Faith This type hears God's word, believes,
steps out in faith, and then sees God's miraculous power at
work. This is "elementary school" faith, as illustrated in
Joshua 3:15-17. Red Sea faith sees God act, then moves;
Jordan River faith moves, then sees God act.
3. Fiery Furnace Faith This highest type of faith is illustrated in
the story of the three Hebrew children in the fiery furnace,
Daniel 3:16-18. They said: "God is able to deliver us",
(intellectual faith). Further, "God is going to deliver us",
(heart or emotional, "desiring" faith). Then the three Hebrew
children hit the pinnacle of true faith, saying, "But even if
God does not deliver us, we will remain true to Him!"
This is volitional faith . . . the highest level of faith!
According to the text (Isaiah 43:1-4), why does God honor the faith of His people? Seven reasons:
1. He created us.
2. He redeemed us.
3. He called us.
4. He owns us . . . (all in verse 1).
5. In addition, God's people are precious in
His sight . . . highly valued.
6. We are honored . . . highly respected.
7. And we are loved . . . greatly loved, as taught
in verse 4 and in John 3:16.
"Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him," Hebrews 11:6.
"Come Before Winter"
(II Timothy 4:1-22)
I. Concentration: on verse 21
"Do your utmost to come before winter."
II. Meditation: on " "fufilling your ministry" (V. 5)
1. By what you speak:
(1) Preach the word, v. 2
(2) Convince, rebuke, exhort, with long-suffering and teaching, v. 2.
(3) Do the work of an evangelist, v 5.
2. By how you live:
(1) Be ready in season and out of season; always prepared, v. 2.
(2) Be watchful (alert; perceptive) in all things, v. 5.
(3) Endure afflictions, v. 5.
III. Revelation: on the reasons Paul requested Timothy to "come before winter"
1. I am close to the end of my life on earth . . . "poured out"
. . . "the time of my departure is at hand," but I have
"fought a good fight, finished the race, and kept the
faith," vv. 6-7.
2. I am grieving because a trusted co-worker (Demus) has
deserted me, "having loved this present world," v. 10.
3. I am short-handed . . . come and bring Mark, v. 11
4. I am suffering physically and emotionally . . . bring
cloak, books, and writing materials, v. 13.
5. I am under attack from a rebellious, former friend
(Alexander) vv. 14-15.
6. I am lonely . . . no one stood by me, except the Lord;
and, of course, Luke, my personal physician, is with
me, vv. 11, 16-18.
7. I am concerned about all the churches I've started and
delegated to others; Thessalonica, Galatia, Dalmatia,
Ephesus, Troas, Corinth, and Miletus, vv. 10-13, 20.
(See II Corinthians 11:28 . . . "care of all the churches")
IV. Applications: as a Christian, I need to . . .
1. "Pour out as a drink offering" . . . give my life in sacrificial
service to God.
2. Fight a good fight (I Corinthians 9:26; I Timothy 6:12).
3. Run with endurance the entire race . . . life isn't a 100 yard
dash or a sprint; it's a Marathon!
4. Keep the faith . . . maintaining the truth and integrity of
"the faith," keeping "the faith" by remaining faithful to God
and His calling on my life, and, with integrity, passing along
"the faith" to my successor.
Personal Growth of the Minister
by: Dr. David Claybrook, Pastor, Christ Church - St. Louis
Dear J.D. (Jesus' Disciple),
Which of these two statements describes the way you perceive yourself? Would you say. "I am a physical being that has spiritual experiences," or "I am a spiritual being having a physical experience?" I guess I would have to say the former, but I believe the latter is closer to reality.
Let me ask you another question, "What does your spirit look like?" Your reaction to that question may be similar to what mine had been. We can't see our spiritual man. After all it is spirit and invisible to the physical eye. Right? That's right! But what would it look like to your spiritual eyes? Don't panic, J.D. I am not going to get New Age or occultic here. I am not even going to get mystical, but I had viewed my spirit in a particular way.
I had a very vague idea of my spirit. I had come to "see" my spirit as a little ball, maybe of energy or light, residing in my abdomen. That may be really weird to you. But I was influenced in this by the fact that, since a child, when I felt God speaking to me, it was usually accompanied by a quickening in my stomach. For instance, whenever the Spirit of God tugged at my heart for me to make a decision (like during a revival altar call) I believe I not only "heard His voice" but I also felt like I had "butterflies in my stomach." It was like my spirit was in my belly. A couple of Scriptures re-enforced this view. They are Proverbs 20:27 and John 7:38-39. Read them in the King James and you will see why.
A couple of weeks ago a preacher challenged me to re-examine my concept of the spirit. I did and here is what I found. First the spirit of man is called the inner man. The Greek word for "man," "anthropos," is used to describe our spirits (Romans 7:22, Ephesians 3:16; 4:24). Paul contrasts the outward man or physical with the inward or spirit (II Corinthians 4:16). Peter speaks to women about adorning the "hidden man of the heart" (I Peter 3:4). My conclusion is that my spirit is not some little ball of energy tucked away in my belly, but is actually a man. In fact, I propose that in some way it resembles my physical body. I can't see it with my physical eyes, but I'll bet, J.D., if I could see with spiritual eyes, I would be recoginzable as a man.
Next, I believe the Bible teaches that just as my physical (outward) man has senses and faculties, so my inward (spirit) man also has senses and faculties. As my physical body is designed to hear and see the physical world, so my spiritual man can hear and see in the spiritual. That makes sense out of I Corinthians 2:9-16 where Paul teaches that man's spirit "knows" or "discerns" the things of God. Paul even uses the term "the mind of the spirit" in Romans 8:6. Evidently the spirit of man, or inner man, can also "see" and "hear." Speaking of the spirit as the heart, Paul prays that the "eyes of your hearts may be enlightened" (Ephesians 1:18). John describes being "in the Spirit" and "seeing" and "hearing" the "revelation of Jesus Christ."
I am a spirit man having a physical experience. My spirit man has abilities of sense and thought similar to those of my body, but they are tuned to the spirit world. I know the Spirit of God has taken up residency with my spirit in my body. My task is to learn to sharpen my spirit's senses. I can do this by focusing attention on my spirit (which I believe is in perfect communion with the Holy Spirit). Then I will be able to "hear" and "see" what God is doing around me (John 5:19-20). I can cooperate with Him in His work and let His Spirit manifest through me. The goal, of course is to learn to "walk in the Spirit." Then the flesh is automatically defeated (Galatians 5:17) and the gifts (I Corinthians 12:4-7) and fruit (Galatians 5:22-25) of the Spirit are manifest. The way to do that is through communion with the Holy Spirit in prayer (II Corinthians 3:17-18) and meditation on the Word of God (Psalm 1).
I have a long way to go, but I am . . .
On the journey,
D.M. (DIsciple Maker)
An Open Letter to Pastors from Dr. Curt Scarborough
Dear Pastor - Friend,
You are one of several hundred ministers in Missouri and other states who receive "E-pistle" each
week. Literally dozens of you have made it a point to thank me for the blessings and benefits you've
received since we began publishing this "iron sharpens iron" newsletter in September, 2001.
If you are one of those who have been blessed by the FreeWay Foundation's ministry, I'm asking
you to express that appreciation by becoming a blessing to us in our time of need! I'm asking you to lead
your church to make a one-time gift of $125 to support our drug and violence prevention programs in the
public schools. Your $125 gift will support one of our "missionaries to the public schools" for one day . . .
teaching in a half-dozen classes and impacting approximately 150 students.
We need extra help as we plan for the opening of schools in the fall because our income has fallen
off dramatically in the last few months . . . and we need to add an additional prevention specialist to serve
our increasing requests from the schools. We have a long waiting list of schools wanting us to come, but we
simply do not have the necessary resources to respond.
Please consider earmarking a $125 gift from your missions budget to our work this month. Or
perhaps you could take a special offering for us at the close of a Sunday morning service?
As a reader of "E-pistle" (and its predecessor "The Whetstone"), you know that this is the first
appeal I've made in several years. Frankly, I had not planned to ask for help through this newsletter, and only
a real emergency today could cause me to ask for a special gift from your church now. But the fact is,
without scores of churches giving a one-time gift of $125 this summer, FreeWay Foundation will not be able
to serve all the students in all the schools who have invited us to help do something about the rising tide of
drugs and violence in our schools.
Thank you for ministering to our needs (if the Lord so leads), as we have ministered to your needs
during these past months and years.
Blessings upon you!
Dr. Curt
P.S. As an expression of your appreciation for FreeWay Foundation's ministry to you through "E-pistle" . . .
will you lead your your church to help us in our need by sending a one-time gift of $125 to support a
"missionary" to the public schools" for one day? Thank you!