The Discipline Of Faith
By Woodrow Kroll
Luke 5
Luke 8
Luke 12
Discipline is the key to success, and some disciplines enhance your spiritual walk. This lesson takes a look at practical disciplines that are essential to the Christian life. Just as an athlete trains for his event, these disciplines are there to strengthen, enhance, develop, and prepare you for the life God has intended for you.
We don't hear much about the disciplines of life in church anymore. And that may be because discipline is not a hot thing these days. It's not the type of subject that Christians like to think about. But, friends, it is a significant theme in the Bible. And that's why I've chosen it for our study this week. We begin today with "The Discipline of Faith." You know, everything in life requires discipline. Whether it's an athlete in training for the Olympics or a scholar preparing for an exam, or even a homemaker ordering the events of her day. Discipline is the key to freedom. Now, I don't want you to miss that. Discipline is the key to freedom.
You see, the dictionary defines discipline as the development of self-control, character, and efficiency. And, while Webster intended to describe the goal of discipline, I think he more accurately described its process. See, the goal of discipline is always freedom. For, when we're truly disciplined, we're free to do what we want, we're free to do it how we want, and we're free to do it when we want. And, all the while, we freely do what we have disciplined ourselves to do.
So, discipline permits the wide receiver, for example, to improvise on a broken play in football. Discipline allows a ballerina the freedom of expression. Discipline enables the Christian to understand that, to the pure, all things are pure. And yet, deep hidden within the wide receiver, deep hidden within that ballerina, and deep hidden within us as Christians, is the pattern of disciplined maturity that permits freedom that is untarnished by license.
So, today in our studies, in fact all this week on Back to the Bible, I want to explore with you the five disciplines of the Christian life, five arenas in which the development of personal discipline permits the expression of personal freedom. I think this will be important to you. And today we'll look at the discipline of faith. Now, in order to be disciplined in our approach to this subject, I'm going to limit our scope to the Gospel of Luke, and to a study of the discipline of our Lord's disciples. So, if you have a Bible and want to follow along, I'm going to begin today in Luke, chapter 5, and we're going to look at the "discipline of obedient faith."
Now, Luke, chapter 5, is the story where the disciples fished all night and they didn't catch anything. Luke 5 is a great passage. Listen to this, Luke 5:1-4: "So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the Word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon's, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, 'Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.'"
Now, if Peter is going to obey the Master at this point, it's going to take the discipline of obedient faith. It was Albert Schweitzer who said, "All work that is worth anything, is done in faith." "Launch out into the deep." Now, recognize, that this is a land-loving carpenter telling a sea-faring fisherman how to catch fish. And worse, Jesus told the fisherman to fish out in the deeper part of the water, where at that time of day, in bright sunlight, the fish would be less likely to be swimming. See, humanly speaking, all of this was wrong. There was no reason to believe that what Jesus said would be successful. Peter had every reason to doubt, and almost no reason to obey, except for the fact he was disciplined to listen to the Master.
So, when Simon received this order, faith and doubt, trust and misgiving, must have begun battling it out. Which one would win? Well, look at verse 5. "But Simon answered and said to Him, 'Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.'" See, faith conquered. And then obedience followed. That's discipline, friends.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer was right when he said, "Only he who believes is obedient. And only he who is obedient believes." See, one of the great disciplines is the obedience of faith, having the kind of disciplined faith that believes and acts on that belief--that kind of disciplined faith that is instantly obedient because, well, because of the belief of the integrity of the one who requires our obedience. See, it's more important for us to recognize that Jesus asks of us impossible things, than it is for us to recognize that they're impossible. The discipline of obedient faith says, "If God tells me I should do it, I should do it."
Verses 6 and 7. "And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink." See, Jesus always rewards obedient faith with abundant blessing. Here we have the example of lavish generosity by the Lord. Folks, the Savior is never stingy. I mean, after all, He gave Himself for us. How could He fail to give us abundantly all that we ever need?
Remember the feeding of the 5,000? After all of them were fed, the disciples picked up 12 baskets of leftovers. That's Matthew, chapter 14. He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again. And, do you remember the feeding of the 4,000 in Matthew, chapter 15? After they all were fed, the disciples gathered up seven large baskets of leftovers. He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again. See, obedience takes discipline. But the real discipline is faith. When we trust it's a whole lot easier to obey. And when it's Jesus who asks something of us, we have to obey. We obey because we believe the integrity of the One who is commanding us. Well, that's the discipline of obedient faith.
Let's go on in the Gospel of Luke, and see a second kind of discipline that relates to faith. Let's go to Luke chapter 8 this time. Luke 8 is the story of the storm on the Sea of Galilee, another one of those Sea of Galilee experiences. This time it's the discipline of discovering faith.
Luke 8:22-25 says, "Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples. And He said to them, 'Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.' And they launched out. But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy. And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, 'Master, Master, we are perishing!' Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm. But He said to them, 'Where is your faith?' And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, 'Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!'"
Now, this is the second time that Jesus and His disciples launch out into the deep. But the results this time were much less joyful than the account we just read a few moments ago. I think this event teaches us a very valuable lesson about faith that we need to learn. You see, folks, faith is alive. Our faith grows and grows. It is not static. And when we're given faith to believe, that's not the end of it. Our experiences along the road of life cause our faith to grow. Sometimes they cause our faith to diminish. Isn't that true? But when we discipline our faith, when we have the freedom to discover who Jesus is and what He will be pleased for us to do, that's when we have the discipline of discovering faith.
Isaac Newton said, "If I have ever made any valuable discoveries, it has been owing more to patient attention than to any other talent." See, if we just pay attention to what Jesus is doing in our lives, we're going to discover faith, and that is a discipline in itself.
Look at verse 24 again. It says, "Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm." See, that proves that Jesus, who created all things, Jesus, who sustains all things, can control the weather. And He can control it again and again and again. See, generally after the winds have died down, the surge on the sea continues for awhile. Whitecaps usually don't disappear immediately after the wind dies down. But this was no usual case. And when Jesus rebuked His creation, the wind and the waves ceased immediately. This allowed the disciples faith to grow. They were exercising the discipline of discovering faith.
And those of little faith had to bring their faith under discipline. They had to allow it to grow and expand to fully appreciate this One who controls even the wind and the waves. Now, what was true for the disciples in the first century is also true for the Lord's disciples in the twenty-first century. Our faith, too, must grow. And that takes discipline.
We need to develop self-control by discovering more of our Savior by faith, by trusting Him more and more in areas of our life. And to do that, well, that's going to take some adventure. It's going to allow some discovery in unusual areas, like, well, like marriage, for example, or child rearing or finances or anywhere the discipline of faith frees us for discovery.
Alexander Graham Bell said, "Don't keep forever on the public road. Leave the beaten track occasionally and dive into the woods. You will be certain to find something that you have never seen before. One discovery will lead to another. And before you know it, you will have something worth thinking about to occupy your mind." You see, I think that's true when it comes to learning more about Jesus. The discipline of discovering faith allows us constantly to be learning more about our Savior. Discipline your faith. Allow it to discover some things about the Lord Jesus today that you never knew before.
Saint Augustine said, "Faith is to believe on the Word of God what we do not see. And its reward is to see and enjoy what we believe." Faith takes discipline. But one of the great disciplines of the Christian life is the discipline of faith. Now we've seen the discipline of faith as it relates to obedient faith, and we've seen it as it relates to discovering faith.
Let's go on to Luke chapter 12 now and see the discipline of committed faith--faith that is absolutely committed to the Lord God. Now, this chapter records for us one of the discourses of the Lord. Luke chapter 12 beginning at verse 22 says this: "Then He said to His disciples, 'Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, they have no storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds?"
Now what Jesus is teaching us here is the discipline of committed faith. He has committed to us, and when we believe that He's committed to us, we become more committed to Him. If God cared for Hagar in the wilderness (Genesis chapter 16), if He cared for Jacob's family during a three-year famine (Genesis 46), if He cared for Israel during the wilderness journey of 40 years (Exodus, chapter 16), if God fed Elijah with the ravens (1 Kings, chapter 17), and if the Jerusalem Christians were cared for by God during the famine (Romans 16), don't you think He'll care for you as well?
You remember the advertisement of some years ago that pictured a girl petting a rhino? This little girl was petting a big rhino. This was created by the Saint Paul Insurance Company. And under the picture was this caption, "Trust is not being afraid even if you're vulnerable." You see, my friend, the discipline of committed faith allows you to be vulnerable because you're in the hands of the Lord God. Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it by the handle of anxiety, or we can take hold of it by the handle of faith. If we choose to grab tomorrow with the handle of anxiety, I think we lack the discipline of faith. And if we choose to grab it with the handle of faith, I think we have discovered the only true freedom there is from anxiety.
Do you remember after the resurrection when Jesus appeared to His disciples? They were gathered together in the room there. The chapter is Luke 24, and it tells us something about the discipline of certified faith, that we can actually believe Jesus. Jesus tells His disciples to look at His hands and look at His feet. You see, if you're seeking proof today in the One that you need to have faith, your certified faith will come through discipline, friends, not through seeing Jesus in person.
Faith that is disciplined is faith that is tested. It's faith that is challenged. It's faith that is allowed to discover and grow. When our faith is disciplined, when our faith is obedient, when we grab hold of faith for the future, we then experience the freedom of facing tomorrow without anxiety. We can face it without doubt. We can face it without fear. And you know what? That prospect allows disciplined faith to be the kind of faith we want to have. It's a faith worth having.
One of the most difficult things in life to discipline is our faith. But, if you've learned the discipline of faith, my friend, you've learned the discipline that brings freedom.
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