FAITH
By Pastor George Lehman
It must be important because without faith we cannot please God!
Our FAITH will never rise above the words of our lips.
How many times do we speak defeat or negative over our lives.
When last did you experience God’s nearness, have real intimacy with Him? Tears fill your eyes as you meditate on Him – when last?
What is coming out of your heart – is it faith statements?
Without it we cannot please God.
Without it we can’t protect ourselves either.
Ephesians 6:16 – Lift up over all the (covering shield of Faith upon which you can quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked (one).
When you leave an opening, the arrow comes in and the results come out of your mouth.
Without it a victorious, successful, overcoming, devil chasing fulfilled life will not be possible.
If the disciples who, saw Jesus, touched Jesus, walked with Jesus and experienced all the wonders and miracles – if they had to be spoken to so sternly about their faith, what about you and I?
Mark 16:14 (Amp) – “Afterward He appeared to the Eleven [apostles themselves] as they reclined at table; and He reproved and reproached them for their unbelief (their lack of faith) and their hardness of heart, because they had refused to believe those who had seen Him and looked at Him attentively after He had risen [[d]from death].”
Hebrews 11:6 (Amp) – But without FAITH, it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him (out).
Notice the condition in this verse. It does not say that God is the rewarder of everyone but “of those who diligently seek Him.”
Living faith is direct; it has its foundation in diligently, actively, consistently, and zealously seeking Him in study and prayer and in conforming to His will.
If God demands we have faith when it’s impossible for us to have faith, then you and I have every right to question and challenge God and His Word.
But, if God has placed within our ability and means, and our choice that faith can be produced, and He did, then the responsibility rests with us, whether we have FAITH or not.
Luke 22:31-32 -“31 Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to *sift all of you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
*Sifting: To see what’s really in you Peter
If we don’t have faith or we don’t exercise the faith we have, it’s not God’s fault – it’s our fault.
Romans 12:3 – God has given us a measure of FAITH.
Going back to the day you received salvation – none of us could ever have been saved if it wasn’t for our FAITH.
Rom 10:8-9, 10 , 13, 17
Romans 10: 8-10 – “8But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,”[d] that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.
What 3 steps does a person take to receive salvation:
(Let me just say this – they are all faith in action steps)
Confess
Believe
Receive
For whom is it available? Verse 13 says for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” So where did all this FAITH come from to confess, believe and receive?
Verse 17: Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. – by hearing and believing the WORD of God.
Titus 1:1 – Paul, a bond servant of God and an apostle (a special messenger) of Jesus Christ (the Messiah) to *stimulate and *promote the FAITH of God’s chosen ones and to lead them on to accurate discernment (onderskei) and recognition of and acquaintance with the “Truth” which belongs to and harmonizes with and tends to godliness.
*Stimulate = live with excitement
*Promote = advance, to a higher position
Paul says “Our faith is foundational to accurate living to walk in the TRUTH. The result will be Godliness or a lifestyle of Holiness.
We proclaim we believe but when the “Tire hits the tar”, we seldom mix the Word or our belief with “FAITH”.
You see – mere belief is not “FAITH” – even when a man believes in the right God, he might still be “faithless”.
Jack Coe, Jr said:
“A person can believe that the true God of the Bible exists until you are blue in the face, BUT, until that belief leads to Works (Deeds) of OBEDIENCE and TRUST, it’s far from biblical FAITH”
The Bible drives this point home:
James 2:19 – You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe and tremble.
James 2:17 – So also, faith, if it does not have WORKS (deeds and actions of obedience to back it up), by itself is destitute of power (inoperative, dead).
James 2:26 (Msg) – The very moment you separate body and spirit; you end up with a corpse. Separate Faith and Works and you get the same thing – a corpse.
Maybe that’s why some of you are experiencing a dead kind of relationship with God?
What is FAITH
Hebrews 11:1 (LB) – What is faith? It is the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen. It is the certainty that what we hope for is waiting for us, even though we cannot see it up ahead.
Children of God, it’s high time we start living like FAITH people; like Jesus is alive in 2025.
We can say we know God’s Word is right and good and true, but unless we act on the Word by faith, be obedient and reap its results, we will never really know and be victorious or obedient over comers.
FAITH in God is simply faith in His WORD.
To sum up:
Romans 10:17 – FAITH comes by hearing and by hearing the WORD of God.
One of the major benefits of reading the Bible, “Gods Word”, is that it teaches us how to respond in FAITH in advance to life’s challenges:
Dig a well before you are thirsty.
Plant a seed before you are hungry.
Don’t wait until your whole life is turned upside down, to then try make out which way is up.
When fear comes, expect the opposite – let FAITH rise up inside you.
When symptoms attack your body – expect the opposite. Have FAITH in God’s healing power to touch you.
When lack comes in – expect the opposite. Have FAITH in God’s provision to meet your needs –
Philippians 4:19 – And it is he who will supply all your needs from his riches in glory because of what Christ Jesus has done for us.
When confusion comes, expect the opposite. FAITH in God’s wisdom, peace and comfort.
2 Corinthians 5:7 – We Walk by FAITH and not (feelings) or sight.
Poem:
Doubt sees the obstacles
(FAITH sees the way)
Doubt sees the darkest night
(FAITH sees the day)
Doubt dreads taking a step
(FAITH soars on high)
Doubt questions: “Who believes?”
FAITH answers: “I”
We can’t just pray for more faith.
We must do what the Word teaches us
Romans 10:17 – Faith comes by hearing and by hearing the Word of God.
