Do You Really Have Faith?
Sunday, March 17, 2019
By Rev James May
Let us begin this morning by reading a very familiar verse to anyone who is a Christian. I know you’ve read this very often and yet its true meaning is often elusive, leaving you to think about what it says, and to consider how it really works in your life. I, for one, have given this simple verse a lot of thought. I have searched deeply for the full revelation of what it means, and I must admit that there is yet a lot to learn about it, and I have begun to understand one thing that is for certain. No matter how much I learn of it, no matter how much I understand of its manifestation, no matter how much I exercise it, there is always a greater depth of understanding and manifestation that is still to be revealed to me.
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
The 11th chapter of Hebrews is then filled with examples of this thing called “faith”, and as I look at those examples, faith is revealed to be the central reason for either success or failure in the life of every one of us. We either succeed because of faith, or we fail because of the lack of faith.
But it is not faith alone, or should I say, it is not faith in faith that makes the difference. What really matters is where, or upon whom is your faith placed? How does faith manifest itself in your life in such a manner that it proves that it exists in you?
When it comes to faith, and the manifestation of God in our lives, faith can become something of a bragging point. We can begin to believe, and even claim to have more faith and be stronger than anyone else, as though we have some magical power of faith that moves God like no one else can do. But Paul, the Apostle, says that this is not right in the eyes of the Lord.
Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
Even in the early church the claim to fame of having great faith became a real point of contention because some began to think they were “more spiritual” than others and that made them of greater importance because they were blessed with a greater measure of faith than others.
The Apostle Paul tells us that faith is nothing more than “trust”. In other words, how much do you really trust God? We all have a certain amount of trust for it is a God-given measure for every one of us. But how much we trust then depends upon our perception of Who God Is and what we believe about God’s dealing with ourselves on a personal basis.
The thoughts come to mind like, “I see God moving in someone else’s life to do great things, but will God move in my life the same way?” I hear people saying that, “I must be lacking in faith, or lacking in trust in the same measure that someone else may be, because I see God moving in them in such a special way, and I see God using others, but not me; and I see God’s anointing upon my brother and sister, but where is that anointing upon me? What am I lacking? Why is my faith, or my trust, not as strong?”
If you’ve ever asked those questions in your heart, then it’s not a lack of faith that you have, but it’s a misunderstanding of how faith works, and it may come from a lack of trust in the Lord and his word.
I believe that if I were to ask every one of you right now, “Do you really trust God, and Do you really believe that he will fulfill his word and his promises”, that there would not be one person in this room who would not say strongly that “Yes, I do believe! And Yes, I do trust God!”
With that being your answer, why then do you question whether you have the faith to move mountains? Why then do we begin to think that we have not what it takes to raise the dead in the name of Jesus, or see miracles, signs and wonders in the name of Jesus, or why are we often feeling so much like we lack the faith we need to be like those early Apostles and disciples who saw God move in such miraculous ways?
Why is it that Peter, a simple fisherman, can speak to a lame man and see him jump up on his once crippled legs and feet and go running and leaping and praising God into the temple, and yet here I am with faith that can’t even seem to heal the headache on a flea?
Why can a man like Paul face tremendous opposition and persecution, suffering so much for the gospel, yet remain steadfast, faithful and so full of zeal for the Lord, while I see many in our time just throw up their hands and quit at even the slightest opposition from the devil?
What is this thing called faith anyway? How can it be increased? How will it work? Is there a limit to how much of it we can have? How much must it grow within me so that I may see the great manifestation of the power of God in performing of miracles of healing and deliverance?
Like Thomas, who forever has been branded as Doubting Thomas, our faith always seems lacking to obtain that which we really desire most in our walk with the Lord which is an unerring, unfailing, overcoming and never-doubting faith that will allow God to move through us to change our world and be a powerful man or woman of God!
We find ourselves more in the position of the father of the demon possessed child who came to Jesus seeking deliverance for his son.
Mark 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
Mark 9:24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
Like that father, we want to believe; we say we believe; and we know our only hope is in Jesus. If we didn’t believe we wouldn’t go to Jesus in the first place, so just the act of seeking the Lord’s help proves that we have a measure of faith. But our cry is, “I believe”, but there is always that little bit of doubt and unbelief, and that threatens to short circuit our answer and our miracle. At least that’s the way we think, so we cry out, “Help my unbelief”. I don’t know how to have more faith! I don’t understand how I can stop the unbelief or remove that little bit of distrust!
There is not one among us who has not sought God at some time to say, “God I know you are a miracle working God. I have no doubt whatsoever that you have all power. I know that whatever I need, you will provide. I know that you always hear my prayer. So why does your power not manifest itself through me?”
Now, the question I have for you is this. “Why do you not think that God’s power is manifested through you? Is it because he didn’t move at all, or is it because he didn’t move in the manner and timing that you expected?”
You see, I know, according to God’s word that he hears every prayer we pray. I know that God always honors his word, and that he broods over his word to perform it. God’s promises never fail. He is always faithful and just to forgive, to cleanse and to save us from this body of death. He is the Faithful God who never changes.
Now if God is all of that, what makes us believe that he could ever fail to fulfill what we ask of him?
You see, that’s where faith is exercised! It is exercised in trusting in the Lord to perform his word regardless of whether you “see” it manifested or not.
The problem is that we don’t understand all of the ways that God moves. We don’t know his thoughts and purposes. All we can see most of the time is what our own mind, thoughts, senses and eyes can see! We cannot know what God is doing or how he is bringing his word to pass in us. And because we cannot use our 5 natural senses to prove that God is moving, then we begin to doubt that he is.
Forget what your 5 senses are telling you! That’s what real faith is all about! It’s about getting beyond yourself and into the realm of the spirit where God dwells. It’s about learning to fully trust in the power and moving of Holy Spirit to accomplish the word of God in relation to the prayer that you have prayed. God’s word is being fulfilled, first in the spirit realm and then it will manifest in the natural realm.
Faith is nothing more than absolute trust that whatever is being done in the spirit realm to answer my prayer will be manifest in the natural realm as Holy Spirit moves to perform the word and fulfill it according to God’s will.
Now let me just add here that all the faith in the world cannot force God to do that which is not in his will to do in the first place. That’s where we have to learn complete trust and exercise faith in a greater measure than ever before.
It takes more faith to trust God to do what’s right and to do what’s best, when we don’t see the immediate manifestation of his power, than it does to believe and trust when there is an immediate answer in the form of a miracle before our very eyes.
It is not a sign of the lack of faith that your miracle doesn’t manifest immediately! It’s a sign of God’s sovereign power moving in ways that we cannot see or know.
It’s a sign of “great faith” when we just continue to walk on, believing that the answer is on the way, and can still praise God and trust him to perform what we ask according to his will in his own time and in his own way!
None of us, no matter how much faith and trust we have, can force the hand of God to move! God is sovereign and moves as he wills for the performance of his word and we have to trust him as he does it.
Is God healing you? If he were not, you would not live another minute! Is God helping you grow in faith and trust? If you’re still calling on his name and trusting him even though your answer seems far away, then your faith is growing.
That’s all that faith is – complete trust in God to do what he knows is best and in the manner that he knows is right for your circumstances and for the good of your heart and soul and your relationship with him!
I’m convinced that many times we don’t see the immediate manifestation of miracles, signs and wonders is because if we did, then we wouldn’t need to exercise faith at all.
It takes no faith to believe when we see it already coming to pass, but it takes great faith to believe that the answer is on the way, and we continue to trust God for it come.
Now there is one key to increasing your faith and seeing the power of God manifested in your prayers. That key is found in Romans chapter 10.
It begins by telling us where the actual point of faith’s purpose in our lives being fulfilled. Everything that follows this point is just icing on the cake.
Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
This is the number one reason that all of us are given a measure of faith. We are given faith that we may believe in the reality and existence of God and in the salvation offered through the blood of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
If you never see another manifestation of power in your life; if you never experience the miracles, signs and wonders coming forth as you call upon the Lord; no matter what else happens or doesn’t happen in your walk with the Lord, You have received the greatest manifestation of a miracle, sign and wonder that Heaven has to offer when you were Born Again by the Spirit and made a new creature in Christ!
No man can say that he lacks faith and still be Born Again. Without faith you can’t be saved! If you are saved, then you have faith. It’s as simple as that! And from that point forward, faith grows in proportion to what Paul has to say next.
Listen to what Paul says about faith and how it manifests itself in every Believer! The pattern is the same all through the Bible and in the life of every Believer!
Romans 10:14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
Romans 10:15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
There’s the full plan of God for bringing faith alive in the hearts of men! All men have faith, but for most their faith is dead! It only comes alive when it is place in the One who gives Life! Faith lives when it is exercised to trust and believe in a God that saves and accepts God as it’s source for all things.
Somewhere, at some point in time, somehow, through the plan of God for your life, you came to the realization that there is a God in Heaven, and you reached that point when you heard it preached, you read it in the Word of God, and that Word came alive in your heart, causing your mind to accept and believe what was revealed to you.
Perhaps it was a pastor, or an evangelist, or a prophet, or a teacher, or an Apostle that spoke the living word that you heard. Perhaps it was a sovereign move of Holy Spirit that led you to read and hear the “preaching” in your own heart through the written message of the gospel. But somehow you ran across the path of some “beautiful feet” that belonged to someone who cared enough to tell you the truth.
Thank God that you not only heard the gospel, but that you received it and believed it, because many don’t.
Romans 10:16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
Faith is exercised by your free will of choice. You choose to belief, or you choose to reject what you hear. And the willful decision to disobey the truth that you hear causes your faith to remain dead and useless.
Look at what Paul says in verse 17.
Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Do you want greater faith? Do you want a living, vibrant, powerful and unending faith? There is your key to having it!
Continually listening, hearing, reading, consuming and choosing to believe the Word of God! The Word of God in you brings life to your faith! The more Word you receive, the greater your faith grows.
So the answer for us all is that if we feel we lack faith, then what we need is to commit ourselves to receiving and believing more of the Word of God.
I believe that Christians only have “weak faith” for one reason. They don’t commit themselves to a continual reading, studying, consuming and growing revelation of the Word of God. It’s only in the Truth of God’s Word that faith grows stronger. The more we read, the more we understand, the more Christ is revealed, the more the power of God is revealed, the more the Love and nature of God is revealed and with each new revelation, faith grows!
My friends, if you lack faith, you need more of the word! Turn off the TV. Cast aside the cell phone. Focus on the Word and getting it into your heart! The more Word you get, the stronger your faith will become!
The Word builds your trust in God! The word teaches you that God cannot and will not fail to perform what it says. As you get more of the word, the more you will realize how much God is already doing in your life, and the more you will see him moving to answer your prayer before it is ever prayed.
Don’t worry about the miracles. They will come as the Word grows in you! Don’t worry about signs and wonders, they will be manifest as the Word that is in you is manifest as you walk with the Lord and allow yourself to be used according to his purposes.
As you walk in the Word, miracles, signs and wonders will be happening every day, and they will be happening in ways and means that you can’t even see!
Just keep walking by faith, growing in the Word, getting closer to Jesus, and your very life in Christ will be proof of your ‘great faith”! Let God be God in you and just trust him!
That’s what every example of faith in Hebrews chapter 11 did to have their names forever written down and great men and women of faith. They just let God be God in their lives as they lived each day for him and allowed His word to influence their way of life.
• The elders of Israel, and all of the elders of the church, obtained a good report. God approved of their lives because they walked in trust and faith, and they didn’t all perform great miracles in their walk with God! They simply believed the Word and accepted what it said, and learned to trust in a God that they could not see because they saw what he did by faith and because His word said so.
• Abel’s sacrifice was accepted and was his witness of being a righteous man. He died as one of the first men of faith and his life has been a witness of faith since the dawn of creation, all because of his offerings of good sacrifices.
• Enoch just walked in full trust in the Lord. He heard the Truth and it brough faith alive and he was taken alive into Heaven. He never performed any great miracle that is recorded, except he believed God was his Rewarder.
• Noah’s faith was proved with an axe and a hammer. His miracle was one of hard work and obedience, but look what his life accomplished.
• Abraham, heard the word of the Lord and obeyed it, just walked in the word and was made righteous because of he trusted God. That was his claim to fame. Nothing great was done except the greatest thing of all, Just believing and obeying God’s word!
• Sarah is counted among those of great faith because she believed God was faithful when he said that she would have a son in her old age. Her miracle was bringing forth a son named Isaac who became the father of the nation of Israel.
• Many have lived and died in faith and received the promises of God, not in this life, but in their heavenly home. They never saw great revivals, never experienced great miracles in this world, but oh what a miracle they saw on that first day in Heaven!
The greatest manifestation of faith in every one of those listed in God’s Hall of Fame for the Faithful in Hebrews chapter 11 was that they received the Word, believed the Word, obeyed the Word, lived by the Word, died by the Word and then received their reward in God’s own timing.
They didn’t see that what they were doing was so miraculous. They simply lived every day trusting God to fulfill his promises. Some saw earthly manifestation of great miracles, but most did not. They just lived and died in faith and trust!
So don’t go around thinking that your faith isn’t strong enough. Don’t go around thinking that you aren’t good enough to be used by God. Just walk in trust and believe God to be your Rewarder! That’s all it will take to make into God’s Faithful Hall of Fame!
Faith says, “I believe God and I place my trust in him.” I believe that He is real and that he will do what he says in his Word! I will walk in trust and let Him guide my path. In the end, I will see his glory in its fullness and that’s all that matters!
I see great men and women of faith in this room right now!
No, you may never raise the dead! You may never open the blinded eyes! You may never raise the crippled man! And then, in God’s purpose he may use you to do any or all of those things. That’s by God’s own will, not yours.
We cannot allow the flesh to dictate whether we have great faith because we either do, or do not see great signs and wonders through our lives. We must hear and believe God’s word alone and live in obedience to that word and the purposes of God. Just do that and you will always be a man or woman of God with great faith!
