Faith Comes
gtcotr/ws053106
Faith is believing that what God says is true.
Key Scripture: Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (NKJV)
The Bible is very plain about man’s continuing need for faith.
Jesus spoke quite a bit about faith:
Matthew 17:20 So Jesus said to them, "Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. (NKJV)
Luke 18:8 " … when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?" (NKJV)
Mark 9:23 Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." (NKJV)
John 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. (KJV)
Mark 11:24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. (KJV)
Faith is believing that what God says is true.
So then, in order to have a basis for faith, there must of necessity first, be a Word from God.
Without a word from God, there can be no basis for faith --- nothing to believe in.
We must believe in a thing before we believe for it. (If, for example, we do not believe in healing, prosperity, forgiveness of sins and salvation - it will not only be impractical but actually impossible to believe for it.)
Sometimes people attempt to believe for something when they really need to work first on believing in it.
Our key scripture, Hebrews 11:6 tells us the continuing importance of our faith. It is through faith that we are saved and with faith that we live a pleasing life to God.
So then, where can we get some faith?
There are basically Four ways faith comes
First: God gives each person a measure of faith.
Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. (NKJV)
This, I believe, is the measure which God knows it will take for that individual to believe in His Son as Messiah, Savior and Lord.
Just because each person has that measure, it does not mean that they will use it and allow it to spark the great fire of salvation which burns out the eternal damning power of sin in their lives and leaves them as a believer in Christ.
I believe that every person has the faith to believe and be born again. However, this measure of faith is just that, a limited quantity which is given to each person for salvation.
Many people are attempting to live the victorious, overcoming, glory filled, abundant life on just that little measure of salvation faith.
Jesus described faith as a mustard seed, which is the smallest of the seeds - but, when it is properly cultivated, it grows into a tree so accommodating that birds can lodge in its branches. Matthew 13:32
The Apostle Paul said that faith had the capacity to grow exceedingly. 2 Thessalonians 1:3
Second: Faith comes from hearing the word.
Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Conviction of the truth, (faith), comes from us listening to and receiving instruction as we are spoken to by the rhema word of God.
The widow of 1 Kings 17 had here faith awakened when Elijah spoke the word of God to her.
Third: Faith is a fruit of the Spirit
Galatians 5 KJV
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
John 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
John 15:16 "You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.
Our faith grows as we spend time drawing our life from the True Vine. Fellowshipping with Jesus causes our spirit to bear the fruit of faith. The more time we spend with Jesus, the more faith we will have.
Acts 4 (NKJV)
13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.
14 And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.
Time with Jesus builds faith!
Fourth: Faith is a manifestation of the Holy Spirit
1 Corinthians 12 NKJV
7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:
8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit,
9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit,
10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
At times, when we need more than the measure of faith we currently have and we don’t have time to read and hear the Word to build our faith and perhaps we have not been spending the necessary amount of time with Jesus to grow a crop of extra faith, but we need it anyway, God shows up in His presence as the Holy Spirit and just manifests Himself in us and through us supplying the faith necessary to overcome the obstacle we are facing.
God has reserved to Himself the right to just show up and be the faith you need.
Sometimes He does this through the encouragement of others, at other times through angels, songs, sermons, scriptures, unseen interventions, seeming coincidences where no one gets the credit.
God can and does manifest Himself as faith.
Having faith is one thing, but exercising faith is another.
Having faith is the first step, putting it to work is something else.
This evening we have seen how we can get faith and more faith.
Next week, the Lord willing, we will take a look at actually putting faith to work.
How does a person take the faith they have in a thing and believe for that thing?
(hupo-meno)
