WHY THE FAITHFUL FALTER!

Hos 4:6 KJV

6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

I have had the privilege of pastoring one group of people for a significant number of years. Many of them are very faithful in their commitments and yet I have seen some of them falter during times of difficulty. It is puzzling to watch someone who has a long record of steadiness suddenly falter during times of trial. Perhaps they will return to habits long abandoned or they may surrender a Sunday school class they have taught for a very long time.  

Dr. Charles Stanley said: “A spiritual relationship heavy on emotion but light on facts falters in a valley. Believers must know how Scripture applies to life. Unless you have a belief system that can withstand pressure, pain, and criticism, you are at risk.” Our text in Hosea does not say “my people are destroyed for lack of passion” but for lack of knowledge.

1. KNOWLEDGE OF THE BIBLE REVEALS GOD AND HIS NATURE!

John 5:39 KJV

39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

James 1:17 KJV

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

Ps 95:6-7 KJV

6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker.

7 For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture,

II. WHEN EMOTION REPLACES KNOWLEDGE FAILURE IS THE RESULT!

Matt 13:3-7 KJV

Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

Believers without a disciplined knowledge of the Bible will seek advice from secular counselors who may offer only a temporary relief.

Isa 26:3 KJV

3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

III. FAITH IS PRODUCED BY KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORD!

Rom 10:17 KJV

17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Ps 119:15-18 KJV

15 I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.

16 I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.

17 Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word.

18 Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.

Great God, today there will be many challenges to my faith. Let me not do battle with my emotions but with the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. AMEN