Manifestations Of Supernatural Faith Series

Intro

The essential key to the kingdom of God is faith. Your future depends upon believing the promises of God. When Israel finally went into the Promised Land, there were only two men from those who left Egypt who entered in: Joshua and Caleb. All the others failed to enter into what God had provided for them. And Hebrews 3 and 4 tell us why they failed to enter. It was because of their unbelief.I thought a lot about those people this week. They saw amazing miracles. They saw the ten plagues on Egypt. They saw the Pillar of Cloud by day and the Pillar of Fire by night. They not only saw the Red Sea part, but they themselves walked across on dry land. After all that, you would think those people would be full of faith. But their opportunity came at Kadesh Barea. At that point of decision, instead of pressing into the purposes of God, they drew back in unbelief. For the rest of their lives they just walked around in circles and finally died. What a tragedy! Wasted lives, lived out in unbelief. And these were God’s people. We are not talking about the Egyptians. We are talking about the Israelites. It is a profound lesson concerning faith.

In his book, Ever Increasing Faith, Smith Wigglesworth wrote, “I believe that there is only one way to all the treasures of God and that is the way of faith.”ii How do we lay hold of the treasures of God? We must do it by faith. Hebrews 11:6 says without faith, it is impossible to please God. That statement is followed by examples of people in the Bible who lived by faith and pleased the Lord. The key phrase throughout the chapter is two words, “by faith.” “By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain….” (vs 4). “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out….” (vs 8). “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down…” (vs 30). The theme throughout the chapter is “by faith.” Are you living “by faith.”? Are you trusting God, even when it looks impossible? Wigglesworth also wrote, “I am not moved by what I see. I am moved only by what I believe. I know this--no man looks at appearances if he believes. No man considers how he feels if he believes. The man who believes God has it.”iii

Our subject today is faith, and specifically the gift of faith listed in 1 Cor. 12:9. Follow with me as we read verses 7-9: “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.”iv

EXPRESSIONS OF FAITH

Faith operates at various levels in people’s lives.

(1) Natural faith operates even in non-Christians. Every time you proceed through a green light, you are exercising faith in the system and in other people. You are trusting that when the light is green for you, it is red for those who need to stop. You are trusting that when they see that red light, they will stop. It would be hard to function in life at all without some level of faith. Every time you plop down on a chair, you are exercising faith. You are trusting the structure of that chair to sustain your weight. When you put your money in the bank, you are trusting the fidelity

of the system. When a farmer plants his crop, he is trusting the life in that seed to germinate and bear fruit. We all operate in faith at this natural level.

(2) Saving faith is the faith God gives us to believe the gospel and be born again. Ephesians 2:8 talks about saving faith. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” We cannot boast of our salvation because even the faith to believe in Christ was given to us by the Lord. Romans 10:9 gives us the practical way saving faith works: “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” The faith to believe the gospel and be saved is expressed by our confession of Jesus as our Lord and Savior. How many here have experienced the saving faith that Romans 10:9-10 declares?

(3) Christian faith is the trust we operate in as believers. Saving faith is faith God gives us to believe the message of the cross and receive the Lord as our Savior. As Christians, we learn to walk by faith, not by sight.v This is a faith that is developing in us each day of our lives. It is something that grows and matures as we walk with the Lord.vi It becomes a part of our character. We go from faith to faith as we learn to trust in the Lord. Abraham demonstrated faith when he left Ur of Chaldees, not knowing where he was going, just obeying the Lord. He demonstrated greater faith when he offered up Isaac, believing God was able to raise him from the dead.vii