Peter Tan-Chi - Training For Victorious Faith
How many of you like discipline? You like the word «Discipline»? Raise your hand. Be honest. How many, if you like the word 'Train'? Training. Training. Training? All right. Do you realize to be good in sports, to be good in music, to be good at anything, basically what do you need? Training. And they train for hours. If you look at the NBA basketball players, the good golfers, even the marathon runners, I was just reading, these people, they jog for almost 25 kilometers a day to join a marathon. I mean, there is a lot of training involved. How come when it comes to the Christian faith, you and I do not appreciate the training that is needed? Do you realize if you want to be a good basketball player, what do you need to do? You practice basketball. You want to be a good piano player? What do you need to do? You practice piano.
Now, you want to be a good Christian? What do you need to do? You practice. Practice the habit of being a good Christian. Our topic today is, «Training for Victorious Faith». Training for Victorious Faith. God takes the initiative, He wants you to be victorious. But He cares that your faith will grow. It is not automatic. Faith is a gift from God, but once you receive that gift, «For by grace you are saved through faith». Even faith is a gift from God, you have to do something about it. You have to cooperate with God to stretch your faith muscle. Your faith is like a muscle. It has to be stretched so that it will grow. But faith will not grow without adversity. It is like weightlifting. It is like jogging. It is like any kind of sport. You have to stretch your muscle.
Let me share with you, Hebrews 12:11. (v.11) «All discipline (all training) for the moment seems not to be joyful (it is not easy), but sorrowful; Yet to those who have been trained (notice, 'discipline', 'trained', same idea as those who have been trained by it), afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness». Remember the word 'afterwards'. During the process, it is painful. It is not easy. I have a new good friend by the name of General Binag. He was telling us how he trained under the Special Action Force. It is the elite, it is the ranger, it is the crème de la crème of the military, the police force. They have a quotation, «Better sweat now than bleed in the battlefield». My quotation is, «Better sweat now. Practice training, practice now, than die in the battlefield».
Christians, God is training you. It is not easy, you may not like it, but understand today the importance of training. So are you ready to see how God trained Joshua and his men? Imagine, put yourself in the shoes of Joshua. Put yourself in the shoes of the Israelites. You are now going to cross the Jordan River. You are going to go to the enemy’s territory. How are you going to win? How are the people going to win the battle? These are first generation, they were born in the wilderness, no military training. Think about it. Guys, you even your children as you grow, and as you live in this world, you are going to face enemies, the enemy of your faith. How are you going to survive? You need training, and I will give you 3 important ideas in the Book of Joshua, Chapters 3 and 4.
How did God train Joshua and company? Number 1, the training of the eyes. So you point at your eyes, do not poke your eyes. Just point. It is called the training of the eyes. Look unto God, look unto Jesus. Okay? So you have to train your eyes to focus on God. Focus on Jesus. Okay? Train your eyes. Next, you have to train your ears. You have to train to listen to God’s instruction. Listen in order to obey. And lastly, you must learn to have a LIVING LEGACY. A living legacy is memories of God’s faithfulness in the past to encourage you to be strong in the present so that you will have a great hope for the future. So you need to understand what are (your) memorial stones, okay? So let us begin. It is a simple message. When it comes to the training, train for victorious faith. Everybody, if you do not mind, say that with me, «Train for Victorious Faith».
Look, Listen, Life Legacy. All right, let us turn to Joshua 3:1. Together. (v.1) «Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and all the sons of Israel set out from Shittim and came to the Jordan». (v.2) «At the end of three days, the officers went through the midst of the camp and they commanded the people saying, 'When you see' (now here is this, train your eyes: when you see) the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God with the Levitical priests carrying it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it.'» In other words, you fix your eyes on the ark of the covenant. My Friend, this is a replica of the dimension of the ark of the covenant. of the covenant in the Old Testament representing the presence of God. What do I mean? Inside the ark of the covenant, the Bible tells us there were 3 things to represent God’s presence.
Number 1, you have the Ten Commandments, which is to tell the people that God is Holy. God wants us to know that you and I are obligated to know His holiness, to know His will. That is the 10 Commandments, it is an amazing covenant with God’s people. You want to know how to please God? Read the Ten Commandments. Number 2, you have the manna in a golden jar. The manna is the food of the people for the last 40 years. Every day God provided food for them. Next, you have the rod of Aaron. The rod of Aaron is a symbol, not just of God’s provision, it is God’s provision for authority. God told the nation of Israel, «I’ve chosen Aaron from the family of the Levites». Why? That rod is a piece of dead wood, but suddenly it bloomed. Wow! Suddenly it bloomed! A piece of deadwood that will now have flowers, leaves. So God is saying, «I am God. I can bring life to the dead».
So that is the presence of God in the Old Testament, and God promised them, «I will meet you». Now the cherubim, this is what you call the Mercy Seat (pointing to the lid where the cherubim are sitting). This piece of equipment is the mercy seat. It is symbolic of God’s mercy and God’s grace. When you sacrifice the blood, you enter the Holy place and you sprinkle blood here. You know why? This is God’s mercy. Underneath you have the 10 Commandments. The violation of the 10 Commandments is now covered by the grace of God, mercy seat. So it tells us who God is. Beautiful picture of God’s presence. Are we clear? Now, let us continue reading. (v.4) «However, there shall be between you and it a distance of 2000 cubits (1000 meters, more or less). Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you shall go (everybody), for you have not passed this way before».
God gave them an impossible mission. How do you cross the Jordan River? I want you to think that you have children. I want you to think that you have babies. I want you to think, okay? You have animals, you have cows, you have goats. How in the world are you going to bring all your possessions across the Jordan River? Think about it. You have 600,000 men, not including their wives, not including their children, plus all their animals. Now you are going to lead this entire nation to the land of Canaan. Joshua needed more training as a leader. He needed to see how to win the victory. The people needed to see how to win the victory, and everything comes from fixing your eyes on Jesus. You see, let us read. (If you want to fix your eyes on God), «'Consecrate yourselves… for tomorrow…'», everybody read, «'for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.'»
Guys, do you want to see God doing wonders in your life? Yes or no? Louder. Of course! (v.6) «Joshua spoke to the priests, 'Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over ahead of the people.' (You will be the guide) So they took up the ark of the covenant». Do you realize that word 'ark of the covenant' is mentioned in Chapters 3-4 over 15 times? The focus is God’s presence. Fix your eyes, follow God! Follow, follow Him.
Continue reading. (v.7) «Then the LORD said to Joshua, 'This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you. You shall, moreover (everybody read), command the priests who are carrying the ark of the covenant saying, 'When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.'» So what is the instruction? Carry this ark, so it is elevated. Do not go too near. Why? If you go too near, you may not be able to see, but do not go too far. That distance reminds me of God’s Holiness, okay? Proper distance. All right, so here they go. They were marching. And then when you hit the Jordan River, what must you do? Stop.
So what is point number 1 to develop your faith, what will God want you to do? Fix your eyes on Jesus, on God. That is found in the New Testament. Do you know the New Testament tells us in the Book of Hebrews? Everybody read this together. Together, (Hebrews 12:1-2) «…let us lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us…» You are «to run with endurance the race that is set before you». The Christian life is like a marathon race. Long distance. You have to be faithful. And how do you run that race? Lay aside all unnecessary burden. You know, some of us have so many burdens. You are into a lot of stuff that are not really basic. You complicate your life, seriously. My wife and I, by the grace of God, we have been blessed, and sometimes we are tempted to accumulate things, but my wife and I always remind ourselves, «Why are we going to buy this? This will just complicate our lives».
Well, the Bible says you are to fix your eyes. Everybody right now, (v.2) «Fix our eyes on Jesus Wow! That is how you run the race: Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith». What does it mean by author? You see, here is the idea. God initiated your salvation. God was the one who started all of this. You may not know this, you are here today, not by accident. You look at your life, look at your journey. How in the world did you end up worshiping here? Following Jesus? God did something. You may not realize this, but look, God is the author. He started this and He is the perfector. He is going to keep working in your life. He is going to keep working in your faith. He will mold your faith into victorious faith. What can you learn from Jesus? (v.2) «who, for the joy set before Him endured the cross…»
Look at the perspective of Jesus. He was willing to die on the cross, but for the joy set before Him He endured the cross, (v.2) «…despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God». What can we learn from Jesus? My Friend, Jesus was willing to suffer because He thought of you, He thought of peace in God the Father. He knew it is God’s will for Him to suffer, to pay for our sins, but He willingly did it for the joy set before Him. Friends, the Christian life, listen to me now. It is not a life of a martyr because in your mind you think, «Oh, sacrifice». Oh, sacrifice. Friends, yes, there may be sacrifices now, but compared to what you will get in eternity, it is not and will never be a sacrifice!
Friends, when you come to Jesus, it is not sacrifice. It is always something better. But in the meantime, you need faith to believe. Yes, it may be painful now, but it is going to be worth it. Example, those of you are serving God, when you are criticized, when you are attacked, you get discouraged. Yes or no? Those of you who are following Jesus, people may laugh at you. People may mock you. What do you do? If you fix your eyes on people, you will be discouraged. If you fix your eyes on yourself, you feel sorry for yourself. But if you fix your eyes on Jesus, it is different. I tell myself, «I am doing this because of Jesus».
You see, my motive is different. I fix my eyes on Jesus. If I do something and people do not notice it, it is fine. I am doing it for Jesus. That is how you win the battle in terms of the Christian life. Victorious faith is something that God wants you to have by focusing your eyes on Jesus! Not on people, not on circumstances. People, circumstances will discourage you. Even you, yourself will discourage you. You fix your eyes on Jesus all the time. And I tell you, when you feel sorry for yourself, your mind will be adjusted. Listen to Obey. Say that with me. Listen to obey. the people, (Joshua 3:9) «Joshua said to the sons of Israel, 'Come here (everybody read), hear (say that with me), hear the words of the LORD.'»
Hear! For what purpose? To obey. (v.10-11) «Joshua said, 'By this you shall know the living God is among you, and that He will assuredly dispossess from before you the Canaanite, Hittite, Hivite, Perizzite, Girgashite, Amorite, Jebusite. Behold (everybody), the ark of the covenant of the LORD of the earth is crossing over ahead of you into the Jordan.'» Listen, continue. (v.12-13) «'Take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from each tribe. Come about when the… (now this is the tricky part) when the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the LORD, the LORD of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters which are flowing down from above will stand still.'»
What is God asking the people to do? «You have to get your feet wet», continue reading. (v.14) «So when the people set out from their tents to cross the Jordan with the priests carrying the ark of the covenant before the people, when those who carried the ark came into the Jordan and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks, all the days of harvest),» Now the Jordan River is not like the Amazon River, okay? It is really not that wide, but during the harvest time, it can be 1 mile wide because the water overflows. Put that in your mind. Now, keep walking, and then when the feet touches the water, what will happen? The water will stop. Continue reading. (v.16) «…the waters which were flowing down from above stood and rose up in one heap, a great distance away at Adam, the city which is beside Zarethan; and those which were flowing down toward the sea, stopped».
When the priest will touch the water, where will the water stop flowing? Where? It is not here, it is not there. It is 18 kilometers away. You do not even see it! But by the time you hit the water, somehow that water has stopped for sometime already and it will stop flowing. Perfect timing, but you do not see it. You see what I am saying? Look at the map. You see this is where they crossed. This is where the water stopped, right up here. Now, my Friend, learn to listen to God, not for the purpose of listening but for the purpose of listening and obeying. Because it is hard to imagine why will you cross the river when it is still wet? You know, if I were the priest or other people, «wait, let the river dry up first before I cross». Yes or no? No, no. This is not like the Red Sea. This is the Jordan River. You see all of you, sooner or later in your life, you have Jordan Rivers facing you. Impossible situations. All of us.
You have your own Jordan experience and now God is asking you, «Will you follow Me or will you not follow Me»? Most of us listen, but we do not obey. Read Jeremiah. Exactly what happened in the days of Jeremiah. The people came to Jeremiah and asked Jeremiah, «What is God’s will for my life»? (Jeremiah 42:6) «Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will listen to the voice of the LORD our God to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well with us when we listen to the voice of the LORD our God». You see they asked Jeremiah, «Will you ask God what we should do»? Background: Should we stay in Israel? Or should we flee and go to Egypt? So they asked Jeremiah, «Can you consult God»? So Jeremiah consulted God. But before Jeremiah consulted God, Jeremiah warned the people, «You want me to ask God? You promise to listen to me? You promise to listen to God»? They said, «Yes, yes».
After Jeremiah consulted God, and God told Jeremiah the answer, Jeremiah went to the people. Jeremiah said, «God said, stay in Israel. Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon. Stay here. Do not go to Egypt». What did the people say? Would you believe what the people said? Just like you, just like me. When you do not like what God is telling you, you know what you do? You give excuses. James said, «Prove yourselves doers and not hearers». Why? Because you are deceiving yourselves. And then the next verse is amazing. James 1 tells us, everybody read. (v.23-25) «If anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; once he looks at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law (the word of God), and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer, but an effectful doer, this man is going to be blessed in whatever he does».
Many people look at the Word of God. See, the Word of God tells you who you are, what is wrong with you. So what God wants is, you change. Correct? You look at the mirror, something is not right, you change. But many Christians, they love to listen. They love to come on Sunday, but they do not do what God is saying. God is saying, «You are deceiving yourself». Now let me share with you how we deceive ourselves when we do not like what God is saying, okay? In today’s world, you will see this chart, the voice of the world versus the voice of God through the Bible. Who are you listening to? The voice of the world, let us talk about premarital sex. Young people today, «Everyone is doing it». That is the voice of the world. God says, «Be Holy, I am Holy».
(1 Peter 1:15–16) The voice of the world: «Do whatever makes you happy». Okay? Whatever makes you happy, just do it. That is the voice of the world. The voice of God is different: «Deny yourself and follow Me». (Matthew 16:24–26) You see the difference? In our mind, we think that by doing what you feel like doing, we will be happy. On the contrary, you will discover that is not the way, but you are deceived. The deception of the world: «You only live once». That is a lie. Look at what this verse is saying. «There is life after death». (Hebrews 9:27) So who are you listening to right now? Wow! I love this. «Follow your heart». You like this, Ladies? Follow your heart.
The Bible says, «The heart is deceitful». (Jeremiah 17:9) You will only fool yourself when you follow your heart. The truth is if you learn to follow the Lord, my Friend, you will end up joyful. I am not saying no problem. What about this one? «I do not feel like forgiving. I will be a hypocrite». I have seen so many Christians do this. I tell them, «Why don’t you go see the person? Why don’t you talk to that person»? «I do not feel like it. I am hypocrite if I do it». Excuse me. A real hypocrite is knowing what he or she is supposed to do and not do it by giving excuses. The Bible tells us, everybody read, «Forgive, love your enemies». (Luke 6:27–28) So my question to you is who are you listening to? You want your faith to grow? Yes or no? How will your faith grow?
Listen to obey. You will never know the voice of God if you are ignorant of the Bible. And you will not want to obey the Lord if you do not trust God. Let me repeat. Why will you trust God? If you do not believe in His goodness, and you do not trust His character? Why will you bother to study the Bible? That is why what you think about God is most important. You want to have a strong faith? It is only as good as the object of your faith. The object of your faith is God. Jesus! Can I tell you something about Jesus? He loves you. He died for you. He gave His best, His life for you! Why will you not trust Him? I’ll tell you why. Because the warfare is demonic.
You see, our enemy is Satan. You do not realize this. Satan is always whispering in your ears. Satan does not appear and scare you «Follow me»! You know if Satan will do that to you, you will never follow him. He appears like an angel of light. He whispers to you, «You want to be happy? Divorce your husband. It is about time you seek your own life. It is about time you set boundaries. It is about time you do what is good for you. Stop thinking of your family. Be happy. Do what you feel like doing»! That is the voice of who? Satan. The voice of God? «Deny yourself. Pick up your cross and I will take care of you». It takes faith to follow Jesus.
Lastly, have a Legacy. What’s the legacy? Life Legacy means what? Memorial stones. What is a memorial Stone? Because God wants you to have a good memory to remember all that He has done for you. What He has blessed you with. For example, let us look. Since you know the story already, can I just tell you the story so we do not need to read it again? But the story is very simple. God tells the people, (Joshua 4:3) «Take for yourselves twelve stones from the middle of the river, bring them back to the shore and put up a monument». Why did God do that?
You see, God wants you, God wants me to have memorial stones so that you and I will remember His goodness. Because sometimes you are discouraged and you need to remember, «Okay, this is what God has done». That is why it says here, let us read the next verse. (v.6) «Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children (notice, legacy) when your children ask someday, 'What do these stones mean to you? ' Then you shall say to them, because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD (It is God that is doing it!)» Let us do it again, (v.7) «'Because of the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones will become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever.'»
My Friend, God wants you to have memorial stones to pass on a legacy to your children. Do you have memorial stones in your life? My wife reminded me that all of us are to be memorial stones. What do I mean? You will pass on something to your children. Whether you like it or not, and all of us, your memorial stone should be your life, your character. You know why? Someday your children will ask themselves, «With this kind of problem, what will Daddy do? What will Mommy do»? If your memorial stone is not something that brings people to faith in God, example, you keep losing your temper. You keep fighting at home. What kind of memorial stones will you leave to the next generation? Why will they even want to follow Jesus when your example is so bad?
So my Friend, I am asking all of you to be a memorial stone for the next generation, so that when they look at your life, they’ll say, «You know what? God is good. God is faithful. I want to follow your Jesus». Amen? That should be your memorial stone. And God will use memorial stones to build up the faith of others. See, God uses people to train us, but will you be a memorial stone for the next generation? God trains our faith. Amen? How does He do it? Eyes, learn to focus. Look at Jesus. L, Look. Listen, ears. God trains your ears and your feet. Make sure they are connected. And who do you listen to? The voice of Scripture. Do not listen to people, do not listen to yourself. And lastly, what must you have? Life Legacy. God will use your life to train others. Amen? Every time you are discouraged, you think back.
I have many memorial events in my life. And when I see you, many of you are also memorial stones for me. When I look at your life, I know what you have been through once upon a time. And I see the changes in your life and to me, you are my memorial stones. Praise God. But this will only happen, this will only happen if you really surrender your life, by faith, to Jesus. So do not despair when you are being trained right now. You are being trained because God is testing your faith, developing your faith. Do not fight God. Be the one to change. It will bless your family. It will best the next generation and it will bless the whole world. Do you know the last verse here? «That the whole world may know that the LORD is the LORD of heaven and earth».
Let us bow our heads and pray. If God has spoken to you, perhaps He is asking you today to stop looking at people. Stop looking at yourself. Why don’t you focus on Jesus? If you like to do that, or you want to open your ears to the voice of God today, you want to change the focus of your eyes, the focus of your ears. You want to follow God’s way, and you are willing to commit, surrender your all to Jesus. Will you raise your hands? I want to pray for you. Praise God! You have not done so in the past. Today, it is really your first time to surrender everything, even though it may not be pleasant, but you are surrendering everything to Him and you promise to follow Him by faith, raise your hands. I want you to understand Christianity is following Jesus. Commitment to follow Jesus. Let me pray for you.
Father God in heaven, I pray for these men and women who have raised their hands as they commit to follow You. Will You be the one to assure them that as we fix our eyes on You, as we learn to listen to You, Lord, You will build up our faith. Our faith that is founded on You. Our faith that is founded on Your Word. And above all Lord, help us to live a legacy, memorial stones for the next generation. Help us to be good examples. In Jesus' name we all pray, Amen and Amen.