I’m so excited, we are doing the series about Faith! This series is fundamental and very important for every Christian life. I’m talking about things that every believer must know about faith.
These teachings can change your life and your relationship with God.
Some believers know all about them but they do not apply these facts into their everyday lives.
Faith is the most important principle of Christian life, because you need Faith from the moment when you are born again until the day of your death.
You’re Saved by Faith, you have a relationship with God through Faith, you receive the favour of God by Faith, you receive blessings by Faith, you know God by Faith, you receive miracles by Faith, you’re accepted as child of God by Faith, you’re forgiven by Faith, you walk by faith and Without Faith it is impossible to please God.
The only kind of lifestyle that pleases God is a lifestyle of Faith.
Faith is the hand that reaches out and takes what Jesus conquered on the cross!
I’ve been a pastor for many years and I’m always surprised by people that have been in church for so many years, and know so little about faith or people who only have “mental faith” or “intellectual faith” but they don’t know how to put their faith into practice.
I want to quickly recap some points I shared last Sunday.
Faith reaches out and receives from the hands of grace. You could say Faith is the Key that opens the door for all of Gods provision
1- God has given every believer a measure of Faith. Romans 12:3
Every believer who is born again and is saved has faith to accomplish what God called them to do.
2- Faith can and should be increased. 2 Thessalonians 1:3
God has given you a measure of Faith but it’s your responsibility to develop it and increase it.
We also learned that Faith comes by hearing and it decreases by the lack of hearing it.
Faith grows when you come to church, when you go Cell Meetings and Faith decreases when you stay home and don’t listen to the Word of God.
3 – You need to act upon your faith.
Faith is increased by hearing the Word and acting upon it. Just like the muscles of your body, they need food and protein but you must also exercise them if you want them to grow. If you don’t put it to use, it will not grow
4- Faith without works is dead. James 2:26
Faith is expressed through actions. Faith is not a thought, Faith is an action.
God told Noah, it’s going to rain. What did Noah do? Noah got to work. Noah built the Ark and he did it by Faith. Noah saved himself and his family because he acted in faith.
Now we will begin today’s word
Today’s word: Faith is Key! (Part 2)
Some people say: I’m waiting for God to open the doors! How can God open doors if you don’t get yourself ready?
Why would He open doors if you don’t take any step of faith? When you believe in God’s Word you have to take steps of faith.
God has many things to do in your life, but please don’t try to take shortcuts to get there. God will prepare you in the Church when you are connected to the church, your spiritual muscles will grow by listening, receiving the word, because He is building His Church and His Kingdom. Last week I gave my testimony as I prepared for the ministry.
I myself was healed using faith from many diseases. In my first or second year after I born again, I had severe migraine, when the crisis would come, I felt like I would almost die from the pain. It was a very strong pain behind the eyes. It was as if “someone had my eyes in their hand and were squeezing and crushing them”.
I heard a message about faith, as you are hearing now, I asked for prayers, after the prayer I left there declaring that I was healed. I didn’t see anything, I didn’t feel anything, but I believed in the word I had listened and in the prayer of Faith. I went home declaring and confessing that I was healed, even when I didn’t feel or see anything different at the time.
From that day I was healed and I have been healed to this day. Never again did I have this crushing migraine or any kind of headache for over 30 years now.
My point is, I found a promise, I heard a Word from my pastor, I acted on the Word, Faith was released, I took hold of the grace of healing that God has already provided at the Cross.
Faith is an act. Your believing will determine how you act. Your actions and your speech are an expression of your faith.
5- Faith works through love.
“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.” Galatians 5:6 NKJV
“We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing.”
2 Thessalonians 1:3
Faith works through love! When your faith grows, the love you have for one another has to increase. If you can’t relate to people, your faith needs healing.
Unforgiveness, bitterness, hatred, animosity, holding grudges, etc …. All these things will destroy your faith. They will keep your faith from operating. Faith can never lift off the ground and flourish if you are holding on to bitterness, if you’re holding on to an old grudge. We need to love all our brothers and sisters who are just as imperfect as you and I.
““In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.” Ephesians 4:26-27 NIV
We are to forgive even as we have been forgiven. Faith works through love. Abandon pride because you are no better than anyone and we need each other to grow in faith.
Do you know how to grow in love? By sticking together and not moving away from people. Together we are confronted and we grow in faith and grow in love! Alone you will never learn to love anyone.
6- Faith rests on the evidence of God’s Word alone.
His Word is all the evidence that I need. I don’t need a feeling; I don’t need a confirming word of someone else. My Faith rests on the evidence of God’s Word alone.
Do you remember the Roman centurion from the bible that had a sick servant at home and asked Jesus to heal him?
“The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.” Matthew 8:8 NKJV
A Word only and my servant will be healed!
“When Jesus heard it, He marvelled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.” Matthew 8:10, 13 NKJV
Jesus marvelled because he said: only the word of the Lord is enough. I don’t need to see anything, I don’t need to feel it, I don’t need you go to my house, I only need a word.
Jesus said he have not yet found such great faith, not even in Israel. He said: Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you
My beloveds, God is true to His Word and His Word will hold you up. The only thing you need is a Word from God’s Word.
We need the courage to hear His voice and obey as Peter did in the middle of the storm. You won’t drown,
God can be trusted.
7- Your faith will be tested
“that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honour, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ,”
I Peter 1:7 NKJV
Is gold precious and valuable? Our Faith is much more precious than gold. Gold is going to perish but Our Faith is eternal.
The Bible says that your faith will go through tests. Has your faith been tested? I can assure you it will be tested. When your faith goes through tests and trials, it will result in praise, honour and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. In other words, when Jesus Christ comes back.
But the truth is your faith will be tested! You will go through a fiery trial and it will be tasted by fire.
“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”
I Timothy 6:12 NKJV
Paul said to his disciple Timothy : Fight the good fight of faith ! There is a fight of faith!
Between every promise of God and the fulfilment of that promise, there is a wilderness.
That wilderness is a place where you will have the opportunity to quit, where you will have the opportunity to become discouraged and quit believing.
Between every promise and the fulfilment of that promise, there is a wilderness.
It’s just like the Israelites. God gave them the promise of a nice land that flows milk and honey.
God promised: You will inherit Canaan’s land.
But they had to go through the wilderness before they got the promise land. They went through many trials and tribulations in that wilderness, where they had to trust God for provision, to trust God for protection, to trust God for guidance and so it is with us.
Our Faith will be tested many times and the answer does not come right away.
How many have received a Word from God about your family? How many have dreams to be fulfilled?
Let’s look at Joseph of Egypt. God gave Joseph a dream about his future. God showed him that he would be in a place of authority, a place of influence and even his family wold come and bow down before him.
God showed him what was going to happen. It was a promise of God given to him in a dream.
So, what happens next? Joseph is thrown into a pit by his brothers. Some were planning to murder him but they ended up selling him to some slave traders.
Then he was bound, humiliated by people, was probably whipped and beaten and taken to Egypt and sold to a man named Potiphar where he became a servant in Potiphar’s house.
After a period, things were looking a little better, but Potiphar’s wife takes a liking to him and tries to make Joseph sleep with her. But He kept his faith and did not sin against God.
She lies: “that young Hebrew tried to rape me” And Joseph is thrown into prison. And he stays in prison for at least two years.
Think about it! He was given a promise by God and everything went wrong after that promise.
But there is no reference anywhere to Joseph giving up, no reference to him being filled with bitterness. He maintained his relationship with God. He kept his trust and Faith.
But because he kept his Trust and Faith at some point, he was promoted from the prison to the palace.
He was made the prime minister over all of Egypt. He saved the nation from starvation and he saved his own family. And indeed, his family did come and bow down to him as God once showed him in dream.
But between the promise God gave him and the fulfilment of that promise, there was a wilderness.
There is a period we all go through, where we are tempted to quit, to give up on our dreams, to put aside the promises that God has told us: promises of provision, guidance, of the fulfilment of a call that He has for your life, for physical healing. Etc
Your faith will be tested. But once you come through test, I pray that your faith will be found to praise, honour, and glory at the revelation, at the appearing of Jesus Christ.
Your faith will be tested. Your faith will pass through the fire and will be purified. But do as Joseph did, keep believing, remain faithful to God and soon, from one moment to the next the Lord will promote you from the prison to the palace.
How many were blessed by this word? Next week we finish the last message of this series. Let’s pray!
How is your faith? Maybe you started well in your faith, you had a humble heart but now you are full of bitterness, you need to forgive people, you need to forgive your family, friends, leader, and you need to confess your sins to the Lord.
Or maybe you started off believing in a miracle, but your faith was tested and you gave up the dream and the promise of God!
God is telling you: believe again, trust me again for great things!
Your time will come, and you will be promoted from prison to the palace.
May God bless you and keep you.