Four
Foundations for Faith
Steve W. Reeves
INTRODUCTION:
A. Go
in any bookstore or type in “How to…” on the internet and you will be bombarded
with a variety of instructions, remedies
and secrets for everything under the sun.
1. A sales clerk in a bookstore was
confronted by an irate woman who was upset
because they did not have the book she
wanted. He told her he was sorry they
did not have the book but should be able
to order it and send it to her home.
2. “What’s the title of the book,” he
asked. She replied, “How to Remain Young and
Beautiful.” He said, “I will order it
right away and mark it urgent.”
B. The
Bible is a “how to” book.
1. It tells us “how to” live in
relationship with God.
2. It tells us “how to” live in
relationship with one another.
3. It tells us “how to” honor God in
marriage.
4. It tells us “how to” raise our family.
C. In Luke
2 we find an incident from the childhood of Jesus that tells us “how to”
develop our faith.
1. Luke is the only Gospel writer to
include this event in Jesus’ life.
2. This event occurred when Jesus was
twelve years old. There are two significant
gaps in the story of Jesus’ life.
a. We know nothing from the time of his
early childhood following birth until he is
twelve.
b. We know nothing of Him from the age
of twelve until age 30.
c. In the second century there were
several false accounts of Jesus’ life known as
the apocryphal gospels that
contained wild, outlandish stories about the boyhood
of Jesus.
1.) One involved him making pigeons
of clay and then bringing them to life.
2.) These are so typical of what people
do with the silence of Scripture. People
try to inject their own
speculation.
D.
What we can be sure of regarding the eighteen years in which Jesus grew
into manhood is summed up on the words of
Luke 2:52. “And Jesus kept increasing
in wisdom and stature, and in favor with
God and men.” This is the epitome “how to”
statement when it comes to the foundations
of faith.
I. THE FOUNDATION OF WISDOM
A. Jesus grew intellectually.
1. One of the amazing aspects of the
incarnation is how even though Jesus was
God He wrapped Himself fully in a
human identity.
2. Jesus was born as the baby in the
stable of Bethlehem. He had a set of earthly
parents even though His real Father
was God. He had brothers and sisters. He
grew up as many Jewish children of
His day grew up.
a. The text of Luke 2:52 comes at
the close of the only story we have about
Jesus from his birth until the
beginning of His public ministry.
b. Introducing this story is the
pronouncement of 2:40, “The Child continued to
grow and become strong,
increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was
upon Him.”
3. Like most Jewish families Jesus and
his family made the trip to Jerusalem each
year to keep the Passover feast as commanded
in Deuteronomy 16:16.
a. After the feast they headed home
with their family and friends.
b. Mary and Joseph traveled an
entire day supposing Jesus was playing with
friends or traveling with other
family members.
c. There is not a mom or dad here
who cannot relate to the anxiety Mary and
Joseph felt when they realized
Jesus had been left in Jerusalem. They
traveled a day’s journey back to
Jerusalem and spent three days looking for
their son.
d. Can you detect the exasperation
Mary expressed when Jesus was found in
the temple? “Why have you
treated us this way” (Luke 2:48)?
4. Why is this story in the Bible? I
believe it is to show us how the Son of God
identified with humanity even in
childhood. There were four ages that were
significant in a Jewish boy’s life.
a. Age 5 - They were to be taught
the law.
b. Age 10 – They were to be taught
the Talmud (Traditions).
c. Age 13 – They were to keep the
law.
d. Age 15 – They were taught the
“Mishna” – commentary on the law.
5. There is no doubt that Jesus learned.
Even Hebrews 5:8 says, “Although He was
a Son, He learned obedience from the
things which He suffered.”
C. If we are interested in the “how to” of
spiritual growth we must understand the
importance of intellectual growth.
1. In 2 Timothy 3:15 Paul commented on
Timothy’s spiritual development by
saying, “That from childhood you
have known the sacred writings which are able
to give you the wisdom that leads to
salvation through faith which is in Christ
Jesus.”
2. Peter concluded his second letter with
the imperative, “Grow in the grace and
knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ
(2 Peter 3:18).
a. How can we grow if we do not
learn? Luke said that Jesus was “listening to
them and asking questions (Luke
2:46).
b. The development of faith requires
an inquisitive mind and a proper source for
instruction. Jesus had both of
these.
II. THE FOUNDATION OF STATURE
A. Jesus grew physically.
1. Notice the comparison to Samuel in 1
Samuel 2:26 – “Now the boy Samuel was
growing in stature and in favor both
with the Lord and with men.”
2. Jesus grew up being physically
active.
B. I do not know the types of games Jewish
children played but I can picture Jesus
running and playing with the other
children. Why? That’s what children do!
C. We know that Joseph was a carpenter by
trade. “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is
not His mother called Mary, and His
brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and
Judas” (Matthew 13:55)?
1. From his late teenage years through
his twenties Jesus was a carpenter.
2.
Have you ever seen a carpenter who was not physically fit? Jesus was not a
“couch potato.”
3. Do you realize that childhood obesity
rates in the United States have tripled in
the last forty years according to
the CDC? One out of five children is obese.
Even among those who are not obese
the combination of fast-food and a
sedentary lifestyle is creating a
generation facing diabetes, heart disease and a
host of other physical problems.
D. When the Bible says that Jesus grew in
stature we can be assured that He
understood the importance of taking care
of his body. The demands of his ministry
as he walked from town to town, went
days without food, and met the demands of
the crowds demanded a body that was in
top shape.
1. For many people this picture of Jesus
is so uncharacteristic. We think of him as
meek and lowly. Artists have at
times painted him as pale and gaunt.
2. As Bruce Barton points out in his
book, The Man Nobody Knows, when Jesus
ran the thieves and moneychangers
out the muscles in his arms were as hard as
steel.
III. THE FOUNDATION OF FAVOR WITH GOD
A. Jesus grew spiritually.
1. I do not know that any of us can
fully understand the degree of spiritual maturity
Jesus possessed as a child.
2. We do know that in his conversation
with the elders of the temple they were
“amazed at his understanding and
answers” (Luke 2:47).
B. Jesus understood and respected the law
of Moses.
1. He was obedient to his parents in
accord with Exodus 20:12 – “Honor your father
and your mother, that your days may
be prolonged in the land which the Lord
your God gives you.”
2. Along with his parents he observed
the prescribed feasts and festivals of the law
of Moses.
3. He developed the character traits
which became the hallmark of his ministry,
“Love the Lord your God with all of your
heart, soul, mind and strength” and “love
your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew
22:37-39).
C. The most important character trait we
can instill in our children is to grow in favor
with God.
1. Dr. Clifton L. Ganus, Jr, has often
spoken about the “fourth R” in Christian
education. There is “reading,
‘riting, ‘rithmatic, and righteousness!”
2. Do you realize how much the
personality and character of a child is shaped in
the early childhood years before age
6?
3. Parents, please – remember that the
most important thing you will teach your
children is not how to make a living
but how to live a Godly life.
IV. THE FOUNDATION OF FAVOR WITH MAN
A. Jesus grew socially.
1. In his ministry he was constantly
around people. He attended wedding
celebrations, pot-luck dinners,
religious services.
2. People saw Jesus and said, “He has
done all things well” (Mark 7:37).
B. We face a real challenge today in
teaching our children how to relate to other
people. Many children have very little
social interaction. They spend a vast amount
of time watching television and playing
video games. They fail to develop needed
social skills.
a. We have witnessed the death of the
neighborhood.
b. When I grew up in the 1960’s and 70’s
we knew every family who lived in our
block and many of those on adjacent
streets. We were in and out of each other’s
homes and if someone misbehaved a
phone call was usually made to their
parents who would be waiting at home. In
such a setting we learned social
development. We learned how to
behave and how to treat one another.
C. Why did the early church grow? Acts 2:47
says, “having favor with God and the
people, and the Lord added to the church
daily those who were being saved.” May
each of us grow in favor with God and
man.
CONCLUSION:
A. Are
you growing or are you stuck in a rut?
1. Are you like the frog stuck in the
middle of a rut in the road? He didn’t live long.
2. Are you like two skeletons stuck in the back
of closet? One said to the other, “If we
had any guts we’d get out of here.”
3. Are you progressing or regressing? Are
you growing or dying?
B.
Faith can only grow when it has the proper foundations of growing “in wisdom,
stature and favor with God and man.” Come
and follow the one who set the example
for us!
