The Circle of Faith
Lakewood | Pastor Jonathan | May 14, 2017
Text: Romans 5:1-4
I. Hope - Blueprint of what you are believing God for…
A. Romans 5:5 “…hope maketh not ashamed.”
B. Hope - An opinion or belief not amounting to certainty, but grounded on substantial evidence. - Webster’s
C. Joel 3 - “The Lord will be the hope of His people”.
II. Faith - Hebrews 11:1 - “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen.”
A. The Inner Workings of Faith
1. Romans 10:17 “Faith cometh by hearing”
¥ We are responsible for the atmosphere’s in our lives.
¥ We are products of the atmosphere’s that we live in.
¥ Just because it’s around you don’t mean it has to get in you!
2. Galatians 5:1 - “Faith works by love”
¥ Keep the right spirit
¥ Most of the time when satan attacks he attacks your love walk.
¥ Draw a line in the sand today and commit to “no more taking offense”. (Just because offense is offered doesn’t mean we have to “take” it… just decline it!)
3. Hebrews 3:1 “Faith is activated by confession”
¥ Your words will partner somewhere
¥ When we speak God’s Word over the challenges of our life we are giving God something to work with!
III. The battle will come after the prayer of faith… Every Time
¥ No one can escape the battle but we can shorten it to almost non-existence.
A. Mark 4:35 - The storm is your invitation to give up and lose your victory
1. Jesus said, “Let us pass over unto the other side.”
2. What about the “Other little Ships” (Your understanding and activity of faith will affect more than just you)
B. Biblical Examples of the Battle:
1. Abraham, the father of faith, almost starved when he left Ur of the Chaldees’.
¥ Something happened between Genesis 12 & Genesis 13 that moved Abraham from poverty to prosperity!
2. David was anointed King of Israel and after he was anointed he was chased, shot at, assaulted, suffered attempts at character assignation, disrespected…
3. Job succumbed to fear and lost everything but his negative wife. His response, He renewed himself in the Lord and began to operate faith “from where he was” and God restored him double of what he had before.
¥ The principles of faith are the same the world over.
¥ The same God that works for us here in America will work anywhere else in the world.
C. Read 1 Peter 1:6-7
IV. Patience - Believe you will overcome the Battle!
¥ Believe
¥ Don’t Give Up
¥ Stand… in Faith
A. Another way to describe patience is with the word “Consistency”.
1. Consistent effort doesn’t always bring immediate results but it always brings success.
2. Keep doing what you know will work.
¥ The Word will work if you work the Word!
B. Patience Scriptures
1. Hebrews 6:12 - “That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”
2. James 1:1-5
V. Experience - Victory after Tribulation and Patience
A. Keys to Victory:
1. You have to believe.
2. You have to give the process to work - “and be not weary in well doing…”
3. You have to keep the negative from coming out.
4. Don’t let your soul control you… look only, through the eyes of faith.
B. After the experience begin again with Hope
1. All five steps are involved in the walk of faith.
2. Satan will make any battle look larger than what it is.
3. The fundamental truths of the battle look easy until you need them.
Altar Call:
¥ Where are you in this Circle of Faith?
¥ Most of us get “hung up” in the fight.
¥ Pray for God to Accelerate your Victories…
