Living by Faith, Not by Sight

When we look at this Gospel passage, we see Peter making this great confession: “I believe that you are the Son of God.”

This is Peter before the courtyard. This is Peter before the rooster crows three times.

Jesus asked, “Who do people say that I am?” Peter spoke up. What he spoke was given to him through revelation. It was given to him through faith—this faith, this proclamation.

Jesus says, “I tell you, Peter, upon this rock I will build my church.” Not upon Peter, but upon the faith Peter has just displayed; upon the truth Peter has just confessed: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

On this faith.

Paul says in one portion of Scripture, “We live by faith, not by sight.”

The other week, we got a good glimpse of that when we saw Jesus coming out to the boat. The boat was on the water. They saw Jesus coming and said, “Oh my goodness, this must be a ghost. What is this?” They did not recognize Him at first.

Peter called out to Him and said, “If it is You, tell me to come out there.” Peter stepped out onto the water. He took a few steps. He was moving in faith: “If this is the Lord, I can do this. He will enable me to do this.”

But then sight took over.

Peter looked around and saw all the water, the wind, and the waves. He said, “I can’t do this.”

For a moment, he lived by faith. For a moment, he lived by sight.

Now, what does this tell us? Where are we to go? How do we live by this faith?

We go back and realize—Hebrews 11:1. Y’all have heard that a lot for nine years. It is a foundational verse.

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for”—the what?—“the evidence of things not seen.” The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

We know that faith is what carries us in relationship to Jesus.

So that takes us to Paul’s writing in Romans that we read this morning. What does that mean for us? What does it mean, preacher?

Paul starts out in the first two verses of Romans 12. If you have your Bible, turn over to Romans 12.

Once again, I will say to you—and make an offer to you—that if you do not own a copy of Scripture, I will get you one. As a matter of fact, there are three on the back table, brand new and never opened, that we would love for you to have if you do not own a Bible of your own.

It is important that we open the Word of God. It is important that you open the Word of God whenever somebody is teaching or preaching to you. Why? So that you can see for yourself that the one preaching or teaching is speaking in truth according to what the Word says.

If they are not—if the day ever comes that you catch me in a place like that—put me out the door. Put me out the door.

All right, Romans 12. Paul says:

“I appeal to you, brothers, by the mercies of God, present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

That reminds us of what is going on on Wednesday evening, doesn’t it?

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God—what is good, acceptable, and perfect.”

How do we do the first part? By the renewing of our minds. By testing to see what is good, acceptable, and perfect.

So how do we do that? How do we renew our minds?

Renewal is a great word. Growing up in the Moravian Church, I never heard of revival services. We did not talk in terms of revival services; we talked in terms of renewal services. It was the same thing. We did the same things, but we were called to renew our hearts and minds in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Once a year, we had a renewal service to renew our minds. But it is something we have to do more than once a year, right? This world is feeding us its thoughts and its ways 24/7. Everywhere we turn, our minds are bombarded by the things of this world.

I would say there are not many of you here who do not sit in front of a screen in one form or another—whether it is your phone and the trappings of social media that get us all from time to time, or a television set that throws the things and ways of the world in front of us.

Our minds are being renewed by those thought processes every time we are in front of a screen. But we need to be renewed in Jesus Christ daily.

Daily, we need to renew our minds in Jesus Christ. If we renew our minds in the Word of God, then we will not be consumed by the world’s junk creeping in and taking over.

“Preacher, how do we do that?”

I am going to give us three ways that are vital to the mind of a Christian and to keeping us in a good place in our minds and in our relationship with Jesus.

Be in His Word.

“Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by”—what?—“the Word of God.” Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.

We need to keep Jesus in front of us. One of the places I like to go to renew my mind, time and time again—you have heard me say for nine years, “Hey, this is a foundational verse”—is another foundational passage that means the world to me.

It talks about exactly who Jesus is. Turn over to Colossians, the first chapter of Colossians. We are going to look at verses 15 through 20.

Had technology cooperated today, we would have read this verse together off the screen. But since we have probably four different translations of Scripture in here, I am going to read it to you and invite you to read along in your Bible.

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities; all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent.

“For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross.”

If you have any question about who Jesus is, this foundational passage answers it.

We need to remind ourselves. We need to find passages that remind us who Jesus is and what Jesus has done. Open the Word. Learn it. Soak it in. Even memorize it.

How did Jesus stand against Satan during the temptations in the wilderness? Satan threw Scripture at Him, but it was not quite right. There are people in this world who will twist Scripture to get you to believe something.

What did Jesus do? Jesus countered with Scripture—the truth. He put Satan in his place.

What do we do if we do not have a foundation in Scripture? When someone comes up and says, “Oh, as a Christian, you can do this,” or, “Oh, don’t worry about it; you can do that,” how do we know God’s will for our lives if we are not in Scripture?

To renew our minds in Scripture, no matter where you are: if you have barely opened the Book, then start opening it and reading it. If perhaps you have studied it all your life, and your Bible is marked up with favorite passages, go back to them over and over again.

Get in the habit of daily Bible reading. Meditate on the Word of God. Let it dwell in you richly. It will pay dividends when the troubles of life start tempting you.

What do we listen to while we are riding down the road? What do we listen to while doing housecleaning or at a cookout? What do we listen to?

The music we listen to matters. The old hymns have such rich theology and truth in them. Some newer music has rich theology and truth in it as well. But there is also some music we would call Christian that may not have much richness or scriptural truth to it.

You have to be careful about what you listen to, just as you have to be careful about what you watch.

Listen to the words of this hymn:

“My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.

His oath, His covenant, His blood
Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh, may I then in Him be found,
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.”

If you sing that, as we did, chances are that sometime this week it will echo in your mind: “On Christ the solid Rock I stand.” You may hear that chorus for a day or two.

What is that chorus talking about? Do you remember Jesus talking about the foundations? One came and built his house on the sand, and another built his house on the rock.

Our hymns call Scripture to remembrance. They call us back to the teachings we have grown up learning and reassure us in those things. They transform and renew our minds in the truths we have learned from our younger days.

Stay in the Word of God. Listen to the hymns, scriptural songs, and Psalms of our faith.

Seeing, hearing, speaking—the more you see, the more you hear, and the more you speak, any teacher here will tell you, the more you will retain, understand, and learn.

How is the best way to be encouraged in Scripture and encouraged in song? It is through our togetherness: fellowship and worship with like-minded believers.

There is importance in the gathering together of the saints.

I have known people in my lifetime who said, “Oh, it is not important. You do not have to get together with other people to worship God. I can go out in a field and worship God.”

But there is importance in gathering together. We are told in Scripture not to forsake gathering together.

Let’s go back to Romans, chapter 15. One thing we find when we gather with other followers of Jesus is that we learn quickly that everyone is not in the same place in their walk with Christ.

Some folks have deep knowledge and great faith. Others are just beginning to follow Jesus and are not as strong in their faith. Some folks are somewhere in the middle. People are at different places in following Christ.

Listen to what Paul says, starting in verse 1:

“We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please Himself, but as it is written, ‘The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.’

“For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

Getting together, worshiping together, and learning together matter. No matter where we are, those who have greater faith, greater knowledge, and greater maturity in their walk with Christ have an obligation to encourage, walk with, teach, and set an example for those who are new or in a shallow place in their faith.

Helping others grow is important. We grow one another in Christ.

Scripture is the foundation, along with the teaching of Scripture, fellowship, trust, and the ability to discuss and learn together.

Verse 5 says:

“May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus.”

That harmony and unity come through Christ. They come through gathering together. No matter where we are in our walk with Christ—no matter our problems, situations, failures, or successes—we come together in Christ as one, in harmony.

We do so because of what Jesus has done for us and because of the love He has given us, which we show to one another. We encourage one another to grow in the faith of Jesus Christ.

We encourage one another to get up when we fail. We encourage one another to press on as we learn. We celebrate one another as we continue to move forward in Jesus Christ. We care for one another when trouble, sickness, or death comes.

This is oneness in Christ: endurance, encouragement, and harmony with one another in Jesus Christ.

Why? Verse 6 tells us: “That together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

We come together to grow and learn. No matter where we are in that journey, together we lift up and glorify God Almighty and His Son, Jesus Christ. That becomes our life, our place, our work, and our identity: people who pray, follow Jesus Christ, and welcome one another as Christ has welcomed us, to the glory of God.

Think about that togetherness. Think about how many people in the world feel alone—distanced from family and friends, with no one.

We have seen people come into our congregation in recent years who were in that place of loneliness. I know she would not mind me saying this: Linda, when she first came, was in a place of loneliness.

Last Wednesday, while talking to Linda, she said, “Isn’t it wonderful? I never knew there were so many people in this world who would care about me and love me.”

That is growing together in Jesus. That is not being alone.

The renewing of our minds takes place in the Word of God. It takes place in the hymns and songs we sing and listen to. It takes place among the people with whom we gather.

The one thing we need to remember is that all these things are choices. We either choose to do them or choose not to do them.

Will you renew your mind in Scripture, or will you not? Will you listen to what is encouraging, uplifting, and faith-building, or will you not? Will you choose to gather for worship with like-minded believers, or will you not?

God has opened the door. He has laid everything out for us. We have to choose to follow. We have to choose to build ourselves up in this faith.

What will we do?

The world is a tough place. I will tell you that if you choose to live by sight, you will sink in your hope. But if you choose to live by faith and build upon your faith in these ways, the water is not going to overcome you.

Let us pray.

Father, we do have to choose. Just as we have to choose to follow Jesus, we have to choose what we are going to do. Are we going to continue to grow in fellowship with Him? Are we going to follow Him? Are we going to grow? Or will we simply choose what is easier and walk down the road of life without giving much thought?

Father, Your church is built on faith—a faith shared corporately in the church and individually in our personal relationship with Jesus.

You call us to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow You. That means we take up Your things and lay ours down. We learn Your ways and get rid of ours.

Father, that requires the renewing of our minds day in and day out, because this world has laid a trap for us—a trap that continues to work in our minds and throws things in front of us, making things look so appetizing through pictures, words, and sounds.

Let us not be held captive or enslaved to our sin in those things. Instead, Father, let us seek You in the renewal of our minds: through Your Word, through the things we listen to, and through the people with whom we spend our time.

May we grow closer and closer to You. May we be found true—true in our hearts, true in our spirits, and true in our lives—to Your ways and Your will.

For this we ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.