• Faith, it is a word that is commonly referred to involving our relationship with our Creator
• It is a word that’s meaning is often misunderstood
• We often confuse the ‘knowledge of’ with possessing faith
• For example, Judas knew of Jesus and His purpose, but had no FAITH in Him
• Faith is the fundamental understanding of God’s purpose, ability and desire
• To have faith means that we place trust into something or someone. We have faith in that person or things ability to do that which we command or ask: The Webster’s Dictionary of faith is as follow’s “To persuade, to draw towards any thing, to conciliate; to believe, to obey.”
• Throughout the Bible we have specific illustrations of various Bible personalities that possessed, exhibited, lacked or excelled in the area of faith
• Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
• The very act of becoming a child of God involves unyielding FAITH in the gift of God through His Son, Jesus Christ
• Faith saves us; nothing more, nothing less
• In the Book of Hebrews, we have a picture of what exactly Faith is and should be to us, the believer
• Hebrews 11:1: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
• Hebrews 11 is often referred to as the “Faith Chapter” of the Bible; this chapter gives reference to great men and women of God who exhibited their love for God by living wholly on faith
• Hebrews 11:1 gives a picture of three things that Faith always involves:
o SUBSTANCE
o HOPE
o EVIDENCE
• Today, we are faced with the curse of sin, sickness within the body of one of our own, and by faith, this person has come forward to express their faith in God to heal the body of His children
• James explained that process to us and today, I would like to talk about these two passages of Scripture and how they come together to make us whole in the presence of a Holy God
• James 5:14-16: “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
• Today, we celebrate the goodness of God through the giving of FAITH to us, His children
FAITH IS:
1. SUBSTANCE: (OBJECT)
• “Something real, not imaginary; something solid, not empty.”
• Substance is something that is tangible, or something that we can, without question, hold on to
• When regarding faith in God, we must know that the substance of faith is in God’s releasing of His Son for the sins of the world
• When considering faith, we must consider several things, understanding that faith is so much more than just believing
• Substance gives reference to the fact that we must have an OBJECT of faith, not just a belief in something
• In other words, “What is the object of our faith?”
• Hebrews 12:2 “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
• Here, the writer of Hebrews is giving us a clear picture of the object or substance of our faith; Jesus Christ
• As stated before, it is not enough to simply believe in Jesus and His ability; we must possess faith in Him and His purpose above all things. Why?
a. James 2:19: “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.”
• We see, by the comments of James, that even the devil and his demons ‘believe’ in Jesus
• This belief, however, is simply not enough to get one saved
• Jesus is to be the substance of our faith or our faith is in vain
• We must possess the faith in Jesus’ ability to be the sufficient sacrifice for our sins
• 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
• Jesus knew no sin, but became sin for us and for that He should become the substance of our faith
2. HOPE
• “A desire of some good, accompanied with at least a slight expectation of obtaining it, or a belief that it is obtainable.”
• A breakdown of the above definition makes clear the expectation of having hope in Christ
• The Elements of Hope Are:
a. Desire
b. Expectation
c. Belief in Obtaining
• When we have hope through faith in something we may seek God for, we must keep these three elements in mind
• When ‘Hoping’ for something in Christ, we must always remember that it is delivered based upon God’s will, not our own
• This is where our “Division of Labor” comes into play
• Psalms 37:4-5: “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.”
• The hope here is to receive the desires of our heart, the key to receiving them, however, is making ourselves delightful in the eyes of God. Hope through Faith that God is willing to provide for His children
• As we read in James 5:14-16; we saw someone who needed healing, that person, based on Faith, or hope, had a desire to get better, Expected God’s deliverance and believed in the ability of God to deliver that healing
• The elements to the healing in James are as follows:
a. Faith in Prayer
b. Confessing Faults/Sins
c. Prayer
• Hope is what drives us to seek God’s help, deliverance and abilities in times of need. It is our Faith in Him that gives us the hope to know that what we ask is obtainable
• Matthew 21:22: “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”
• All things we hope for, don’t forget the definition, if we believe God is able, we shall receive them
3. EVIDENCE (PROOF)
• “That which elucidates and enables the mind to see truth; proof arising from our own perceptions by the senses, or from the testimony of others, or from inductions of reason. Our senses furnish evidence of the existence of matter, of solidity, of color, of heat and cold, of a difference in the qualities of bodies, of figure”
• In other words, evidence is that which just makes sense
• When considering faith, evidence is the element in which we see the results of our faith
• If we have faith in our car for example, we place our key in the ignition and turn the key, the car starts and that is the ‘result’ or evidence of our faith in the ability of our car
• A young American engineer was sent to Ireland by his company to work in a new electronics plant. It was a two-year assignment that he had accepted because it would enable him to earn enough to marry his long-time girlfriend. She had a job near her home in Tennessee, and their plan was to pool their resources and put a down payment on a house when he returned. They corresponded often, but as the lonely weeks went by, she began expressing doubts that he was being true to her, exposed as he was to comely Irish lasses. The young engineer wrote back, declaring with some passion that he was paying absolutely no attention to the local girls. "I admit," he wrote, "that sometimes I’m tempted. But I fight it. I’m keeping myself for you." In the next mail, the engineer received a package. It contained a note from his girl and a harmonica. "I’m sending this to you," she wrote, "so you can learn to play it and have something to take your mind off those girls." The engineer replied, "Thanks for the harmonica. I’m practicing on it every night and thinking of you." At the end of his two-year stint, the engineer was transferred back to company headquarters. He took the first plane to Tennessee to be reunited with his girl. Her whole family was with her, but as he rushed forward to embrace her, she held up a restraining hand and said sternly, "Just hold on there a minute, Billy Bob. Before any serious kissin’ and huggin’ gets started here, let me hear you play that harmonica!"
• This young lady had faith in her boyfriend but wanted the evidence of his faith, in other words she wanted to see the results of her faith
• We too, seek God, expecting results and God always provides them, sometimes, however, the result is different than we expected or desired
• Luke 22:42: “Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.”
• Jesus had the greatest faith of all, and in His time of weakness understood the importance of seeking God’s result (evidence) and not His own
• The evidence of faith is the result of our seeking God, no matter what the cost, and then sharing with others what God has done
• Luke 8:42-48 “…But as he went the people thronged him. And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any, Came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched. And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me. And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately. And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.”
• Here, we see someone who possessed enough faith in Jesus to know that if she could but touch the garment in which He was wearing that she would be healed
• This woman possessed the three elements of faith:
a. Substance
b. Hope
c. Evidence
• Her substance was in the fact that she knew the ability of Jesus to heal
• Her Hope was that if she could just get close enough to Him, she would be healed
• Her Evidence was in the beautiful statement of Jesus, “Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.”
• Today, we must live by faith, knowing that even though we don’t always understand it, it is the substance, hope and evidence of our new life with Christ and the confidence in the ability of God to provide for his children
• Romans 1:17: “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.”
