WHAT IS FAITH? (1)

Many people are not experiencing the manifestations of the promises of God in their lives today because they are ignorant of the only way to receive anything from God – FAITH!

                                                                       

So, today we want to look at – “WHAT IS FAITH?” To experience the manifestations of the promises of God in any area of your life, you MUST have faith in God (Mk. 11:12-14, 19-22).

What is faith in God? Faith in God is faith in His Word.

To emphasize the importance of faith, the Bible repeatedly said, “…the just shall live by faith…”

Habakkuk 2:4 says, “...but the just shall live by HIS faith.”

Romans 1:16-17 Paul said, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17 For therein is the righteousness of God (God’s way of doing things) REVEALED from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.”

Galatians 3:11 says, “...for, the just shall live by faith.”

When will the just live by faith? Now! Hebrews 10:38 says, “Now the just shall live by faith…”

Why must the righteous live by faith? In Hebrews 11:6 the Bible says, “Because without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God MUST believe that He is (able to fulfil His promise, Jehovah Rapha, Jehovah Jireh; The Lion of the tribe of Judah etc.), and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

The Bible says, “Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe His prophets, so shall ye prosper” (2 Chron. 20:20).

In Isaiah 7:9 God said, “If ye will not believe (in Him/in His Word), surely ye shall not be established.”

In 1 John 5:4 the Bible says, “For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world – our FAITH.” 

Realize that faith begins where the will of God is known. Faith cannot begin until the will of God is known.

The perfect will of God is the written Word of God. The will of God includes all the promises He has made to us in His Word.

Without knowing what God has promised you in His Word concerning that particular situation in your life, the faith to overcome that situation can never exist in your life.

This is because if you don’t know what the Word of God says concerning a particular issue, in what then will you put your faith?

In Acts 14:9 Paul perceived that the sick man had the faith to be healed.

How did this sick man get the faith to be healed? He got this faith by first of all hearing the Word of God preached by Paul.

Here is the truth: You cannot believe beyond what you know. “So then, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Rom. 10:17). 

What then is FAITH?

1. Faith is not hope. As long as you are only hoping, you won’t receive from God because you receive from Him by faith, not by hope.

The only type of faith that receives from God is the Bible-kind of faith which believes God and acts on what it believes.

Jesus said, “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, BELIEVE that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mk. 11:24).

Jesus said, “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive” (Matt. 21:22).

How do you know whether you really believe God or you are just hoping? Hope is always future tense, because hope always looks to the future, but believing (faith) is ‘now.’

For instance, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ does have a blessed hope of Jesus’ imminent return. The coming of Christ, the resurrection of the saved dead, the Rapture of the saints, are all in the future.

However, if you are seeking healing, it is not in the future that you want to be healed. You want to be healed right now – that is FAITH.

As long as you put off believing, the blessing will be in the future, and will stay in the future. But now is when you want whatever God has promised you in His Word. 

2. Faith is not just believing the promises of God, because even demons also believe and they tremble (Jam. 2:19).

3. Rather, faith is acting on the Word of God you claim to believe. Faith is the practical expression of your confidence in God and in His Word.

If you really have faith, you’ll add action to what you claim to have confidence in. For instance, Peter demonstrated his practical confidence in Jesus by walking on water as commanded by Jesus Christ (Matt. 14:28-29).

If you really believe God, you will promptly act on whatsoever He instructs you to do.

4. Faith is active. For instance, if you really need a breakthrough in your finances, and you are just waiting for something to turn up, nothing will show up but more bills to pay! But if you would just act on Luke 6:38, 2 Corinthians 9:6-7, Malachi 3:10, Proverbs 3:9, an encouraging harvest will surely show up in your finances.

5. Real Bible faith is faith in the love of God. In John 3:16 Jesus said, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Here is the truth: If you ever doubt God’s love for you, you’ll also doubt God’s Word to you. Realize that God the Father loved you even before you became a Christian. He loved you in your mess.

6. Faith for anything you desire in life will only begin when you get a Word from the Lord concerning that very need.

When you get that promise from the Scriptures, then you can boldly say, “Thus saith the LORD…” For instance, David got a Word from the LORD concerning Ziklag (1 Sam. 30:1-8).

What is the Word from the Lord concerning your health? (3 Jn. 2). From the beginning, God’s plan for man is that he should be healthy, and not suffer any type of sickness at all (Ex. 23:25; Deut. 7:15).

God does not want you to die before your time (Ex. 23:26; Ps. 107:20; Isa. 55:11).

And if you happen to get ill for any reason, God is willing to heal you no matter the sickness (Isa. 53:4-5; Matt. 8:17; 1 Pet. 2:24).

7. Faith is believing God for what He has said in His Word. Faith is strictly based on the Word of God and not on philosophies, personal opinions, or whatsoever your five senses are telling you.

8. Faith is taking God at His Word. And the promises of God are Yea and Amen. That is to say that the promises of God are “Yes! It is true!” (2 Cor. 1:18-20; Num. 23:19; Isa. 55:11).

9. Faith is cooperating with God. God can’t help those who won’t cooperate with Him. For instance, if you have withered hands and Jesus instructs you to stretch forth your hands, it is your responsibility to cooperate with God by obeying no matter how impossible your situation looks (Lk. 6:10).

10. Faith is present tense. You must get your believing in the present tense for things to work for you. The promise of God will not work for you until you get it in the right tense.

As long as you are struggling to receive healing, for example, and you believe you are going to get it sometime in the future, you are not in faith, because this is hope and not faith.

11. Faith is of the heart, not the head. People mentally agree that the Word of God is true, but they don’t believe it from their heart (spirit-man).

How can you tell whether you are really believing from your heart or just mentally agreeing that the 

Word of God is so? If you are only mentally agreeing, you will say that you believe that the promise of God is true, but you don’t believe it is true for you.

Conclusion: Faith believes the Word and acts on the Word of God. By faith you can receive whatever God has promised you in His Word. I therefore, challenge you to believe and act on God’s Word today and you will be a recipient of your expected breakthrough. So, rise up and receive your miracle by faith today!

Watch out for the next edition of Good News from the Pulpit!

• Your friend: I. I. MADUBUNYI (Senior Pastor)               Aug. 11^th, 2019!