We are living in the days where great faith is needed to survive in this world. I often cringe when I look at the news. What do we have to look forward to? Today, we face a volatile economy, with the dow plunging more than 2,300 points on this past Thursday and deemed to be the worst day on Wall Street since 1987 (they are said to have rebounded from the plunge). There is a global crisis, a pandemic, as the coronavirus outbreak continues to spread, topping out at 125,000 cases globally. The world is in a sheer panic with consumers buying items such as, toilet paper and hand sanitizer in bulk and major events, schools and entertainments venues shutting down. As for our political climate, well, Trump is our president. I will leave it at that. Violence and Sodomy, as we know, continues to run rampant. Not to mention the natural disasters we face. This list goes on and on.

1. FAITH
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

2. INTRODUCTION
We are living in the days where great faith is needed
to survive in this world. I often cringe when I look at
the news. What do we have to look forward to?
Today, we face a volatile economy, with the dow
plunging more than 2,300 points on this past
Thursday and deemed to be the worst day on Wall
Street since 1987 (they are said to have rebounded
from the plunge). There is a global crisis, a
pandemic, as the coronavirus outbreak continues to
spread, topping out at 125,000 cases globally. The
world is in a sheer panic with consumers buying
items such as, toilet paper and hand sanitizer in bulk
and major events, schools and entertainments venues
shutting down. As for our political climate, well,
Trump is our president. I will leave it at that.
Violence and Sodomy, as we know, continues to run
rampant. Not to mention the natural disasters we
face. This list goes on and on.

3. FaithoftheSonsofMen
If you do not have the word of God, you
might find yourself very fearful and
distraught. Why? Because most people
in this world put their faith in a great
many of things that have nothing to do
with God. They believe in the American
constitution and the greatness of this
country. They believe in the superiority
of capitalism. They believe in their man-
made values and traditions, placing
God’s name on them to make them
appear to be good. These very beliefs are
now being challenged and threatened
because of the times we live in.

4. FAITHOFTHERIGHTEOUS
But that is not the case for us.
The bible teaches us that there
will be a falling away of goodness
in every facet of this world and we
see the prophecies of God
unfolding before our eyes. The
puzzle pieces are gradually
coming together and we have to
remain watchful and in constant
prayer. We must have faith
during these perilous times.

5. FAITHIS……
• However, the faith of God is often used loosely,
taken for granted and misinterpreted. In fact,
people will proclaim faith in God without any
thought as to what it really means. So what
exactly is faith?
• Faith is…..
• firm, unwavering belief, trust and confidence in
God’s law, promise and authority
• The driving force behind obedience.
• Not based on sight but based upon experience
• Is a fruit of the spirit and a spiritual gift

6. FAITHWITHOUTWORKSISDEAD
• The world will often misinterpret scriptures
Paul wrote about faith and say that all you
have to do is believe and proclaim that Jesus
is our Savior. But that could’t be farthest
from the truth. Our faith comes alive and is
manifested through our obedience of the
commandments and testimonies. James
spoke about this plainly in chapter 2: 17-20,
“Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead,
being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast
faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith
without thy works, and I will shew thee my
faith by my works. Thou believest that there
is one God; thou doest well: the devils also
believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O
vain man, that faith without works is dead?”

7. FAITHWITHOUTWORKSISDEAD
Consider this. It is not enough to say, “I
love my children.” You have to show this
love on a daily basis through your action.
How do you do this? You feed and clothe
them. You provide a roof over their heads.
You nurture and comfort them. You teach
them the laws of God and steer them in the
right direction through discipline and living
a good example yourself. For a person who
blatantly neglects or abuses their child, if
they said they loved them, would you believe
them? Of course not, because they are not
showing it. Therefore, we must show and
prove our faith through obedience to God.

8. HEBREWSCH.11
Though Paul is often misunderstood,
consider Hebrews Chapter 11. In verse 1 he
states, “Now faith is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Paul was depicting what true faith is. There
are two key words, substance and evidence.
In this context, substance is something
tangible that you can see and evidence is also
tangible, a sign or proof that something is
valid and true. Now we cannot see God and
we cannot see His promise per se, yet we
believe. Do we not? How so? Because He
made His truth and promise known to us in
His word. He spoke to us through his Holy
Spirit. This point requires more explanation.

9. FAITHISAGIFT
Recall that faith is a spiritual gift and
a fruit from the Holy Spirit (I
Corinthians 12: 8 -12 & Galatians 5:
22). It is the Holy Spirit that
convinces us of righteousness and
bears witness to the testimony of
Christ (St. John 14: 26) He also
bears witness to the testimony within
us (Romans 8: 16). When we have
the Holy Spirit within us, we are
able to believe all things that God
has told us and apply it to our lives.

10. WEOVERCOMETHROUGHFAITH
Through faith, we can overcome
the trials and persecutions we face.
That is why God said, “Not by
might, nor by power, but by my
spirit, saith the LORD of
hosts” (Zechariah 4: 6) and in
Matthew 17: 20, “if ye have faith as a
grain of mustard seed, ye shall say
unto this mountain, Remove hence
to yonder place; and it shall
remove; and nothing shall be
impossible unto you.”

11. LIFEEXPERIENCE
• Through faith, we gain life
experience. As such, true
faith is real and tangible
enough on its own through
our works and exploits.
We do not need God in
front of our faces or to see
blatant signs to believe in
the promise. That is what
it means to live by faith.

12. LIVEBYFAITHNOTSIGHT
Paul continues to depict faith using
examples of righteousness from saints
that came before us. However, unlike,
Israel of ancient days, we live in a time
where the truth is trodden down in the
world and we have yet to see miracles
like those before us. God spoke of the us,
the remnant, as such in 2 Esdras 1: 37, “I
take to witness the grace of the people to
come, whose little ones rejoice in
gladness: and though they have not seen
me with bodily eyes, yet in spirit they
believe the thing that I say.”

13. INCONCLUSION
In conclusion, let the faith
in our Lord, Jesus Christ,
forever reign in our hearts,
minds and souls that we
may stand firmly on his
word and let our light
shine though we may be
surrounded by darkness in
these perilous times.
May God be with you all.
Amen.