1Co 12:3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says Jesus is a curse, and that no one can say that Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Spirit.
1Co 12:4 But there are differences of gifts, but the same Spirit.
1Co 12:5 And there are differences of ministries, but the same Lord.
1Co 12:6 And there are differences of workings, but it is the same God working all things in all.
1Co 12:7 But to each one is given the showing forth of the Spirit to our profit.
1Co 12:8 For through the Spirit is given to one a word of wisdom; and to another a word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit;
1Co 12:9 and to another faith by the same Spirit; and to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
1Co 12:10 and to another workings of powers, to another prophecy; and to another discerning of spirits; and to another kinds of tongues; and to another the interpretation of tongues.
1Co 12:11 But the one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing separately to each one as He desires.
As Christians we have faith. Each one of us knows that we have been saved through the blood of Jesus. We know this because we have read it. And we have faith in what we have read or been told. This is an everyday faith in our salvation. It’s a faith like a farmer has when he sows seeds during the spring knowing that he will reap the harvest in the autumn. It’s a faith based on knowledge and experience.
In the Scriptures we have just read, Paul in his letter to the Corinthians speaks of a gift of faith. Faith given to us by the Spirit. If we look again at these Scriptures we find that the gifts that Paul refers to can be broken down into 3 groups, each with 3 gifts.
We have the gifts of revelation: this group contains the gifts of knowledge, wisdom and discerning of spirits.
We have the vocal gifts: these are prophecy, tongues and the interpretation of tongues.
And finally we have the gifts of power, these being the gifts of miracles, healing and faith. It is through these three gifts that God demonstrates His power, strength and love not just to those who believe in Him but to those who don’t. It is only when things happen that has no human explanation that God can clearly been seen at work.
The gift we are going to look at now, one of the power gifts, is the gift of faith. What is it that makes the gift of faith so very different from the everyday faith that we all have in Jesus?
Can we go to Matthew 17:15...
Mat 17:15 Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and grievously vexed; for oftentimes he falls into the fire, and often into the water.
Mat 17:16 And I brought him to Your disciples, and they could not cure him.
Mat 17:17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him here to Me.
Mat 17:18 And Jesus rebuked the demon, and he departed out of him. And the child was cured from that very hour.
Mat 17:19 Then the disciples came to Jesus apart, and said, Why could we not cast him out?
Mat 17:20 And Jesus said to them, Because of your unbelief. For truly I say to you, If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, Move from here to there. And it shall move. And nothing shall be impossible to you.
We should not assume that in this last verse where Jesus tells his disciples that they have unbelief as meaning that the disciples had no belief. Lets not forget that previously they had been out on mission healing the sick, performing miracles and spreading the news of Jesus. Many of the early manuscripts translates unbelief as littleness of faith. And this is more likely to be true. The disciples had faith but were still unable to cast out this particular demon. Jesus went on to say that that particular type of demon only came out with prayer and fasting, but could there have been something else that prevented them from curing the child. Scripture tells us in James 5:15 that the prayer of faith will cure the sick.. So why did Jesus say ‘because of your unbelief’?
What was it that happened which prevented the disciples from releasing the child from his affliction. The father brought the child to nine of the disciples. We know this because the child was brought to the disciples when Jesus was with Peter, James and John on the mountain during the time of transfiguration.
These three disciples formed an inner circle of disciples. They appear to have been Jesus’s favorites and were not only present at the transfiguration of Jesus but were also present when He raised the girl from the dead at the synagogue rulers house and also when Jesus spent time in prayer at Gethsamane. It was these three disciples that would become the power house and driving force behind the new Christian church. Do we see here the difference between faith based on knowledge and experience and faith imparted by the Holy Spirit?
Did the disciples succeed in working miracles and healing others earlier because they had been told to go and do these things. They had faith in what Jesus told them they could do. But when Jesus and the future leaders were no longer with them, when they had no one to tell them what to do, could they have failed to achieve what they should have done because of their lack of faith. Or could it be that their question to him gives away something that they needed to learn. They asked why could we not cast out the demon. Could it be that they had not yet learned that the power came from God and not themselves?
Let’s just quickly take a look at the old testament, go to deut 7:17
Deu 7:17 If you shall say in your heart, These nations are more than I; how can I throw them out?
Here we have God telling his people the Israelites not to have doubts. This was the time when the Israelites were facing 7 nations, each one of them more powerful then themselves, yet God told them they would be successful. But God could only deliver them success if the Israelites had no doubts in His power. God clearly says that He can only work miracles and wonders in your life if you have faith in Him. If you consign Him to doing little things then that is all He is capable of doing. To accomplish great things you need to say it in your hearts and give God the freedom to carry it out.
There is one thing we can be certain of whether we are Christian or not. Before we were born, God had destined for us to accomplish things in our lives. Some of these things we will see and do because of our own abilities. But some we will come to and we will have a choice. We either turn away and say that I can not do that. Or we can say I can not do that but through the power that has been given to me by the Father, I can accomplish that task. It’s when we come to these supposedly insurmountable tasks, that we call out to the Father to strengthen us and He sends His spirit to strengthen us with faith.
2Ch 20:15 And he said, Listen, all Judah, and you people of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat! So says Jehovah to you, Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.
If God gives you tasks to do that you can accomplish then how can His Glory be seen. He needs you to take on the gift of faith so He can make you do the things that bring Him glory and praise.
1Ch 5:20 And they were helped against them, and the Hagarites were delivered into their hand, and all who were with them. For they cried to God in the battle, and He was pleased to hear them, because they put their trust in Him.
We see in David a great faith when he stood against Goliath. David stood against a mighty enemy with nothing but a sling and his faith in God. Even before his fight had begun he had declared victory in the name of God...
1Sa 17:45 And David said to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of Jehovah of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
1Sa 17:46 Jehovah will deliver you into my hand today, and I will strike you and take your head from you and give the bodies of the army of the Philistines to the birds of the air today, and to the wild beasts of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
1Sa 17:47 And all this multitude shall know that Jehovah does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is Jehovah’s, and He will give you into our hands
We’re going to be going back to the New Testament in a moment but before we do I want us to take a look at one last O.T. experience of great faith. Because in this we see that when we have this special gift of faith, we then begin to see very real manifestations of God and His glory in our lives. We start to see very real powers in action.
Can we go to Daniel 3 verse 16.
Dan 3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to return a word to you on this matter.
Dan 3:17 If it is so that our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, then He will deliver us out of your hand, O king.
Dan 3:18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods nor worship the golden image which you have set up.
Here we have the three Hebrews facing the fires of the furnace for failing to turn their back on god. Their faith was total, how many of us now would be willing to stand firm in our faith to the point of death. And so they were thrown into the furnace with total faith in the Father as the one and only living God. And what happens. Move onto verse 24.
Dan 3:24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was amazed. And he rose up in haste and spoke and said to his advisers, Did we not throw three men bound into the middle of the fire? They answered and said to the king, True, O king.
Dan 3:25 He answered and said, Behold! I see four men loose, walking in the middle of the fire, and there is no harm among them. And the form of the fourth is like a son of the gods.
So here we have three men professing their faith in God being bound and thrown into a furnace so hot that the soldiers who threw them in were burned up. And as they kept their faith in the flames of the furnace, God saw their faithfulness and his glory came and manifested itself and protected them.
Did Peter, James and John, the inner circle of the disciples, have a special faith, one that was given to them by the Spirit that brought them much closer to Jesus than the other disciples? Certainly Peter’s faith was so strong that he got out of the boat and walked on water, if only for a few steps. We know John was thrown into a vat of boiling oil and survived to go on and gives us the book of Revelations. James was one of the first Christians to die for his faith. Peter was called the rock and John and James were called the Sons of Thunder.
Did these three disciples, not necessarily have more faith, but were they more willing to open their hearts to God so that He could give them a piece of His perfect faith through the Holy Spirit.
We need to start to see the difference between everyday faith that is built up on knowledge given to us by the Bible and the faith that gives knowledge to us. To put it another way, it’s the difference between knowledge given faith and faith given knowledge. Through Spirit given faith Peter knew he could walk on water, through Spirit given faith Elijah knew he could soak the wood and burnt offerings with water before calling on God to light the flames. Through Spirit given faith Noah knew he had to build the Ark. Through Spirit given faith Moses knew he could take the people of Israel through the Red Sea. Spirit given faith comes at time of trouble and testing to give us the answer and the ability to give glory to God. Spirit given faith comes at a time when mere humans can not provide answers to problems. Sometimes such as with Noah, mere humans do not even see the problem until it’s too late. But there are those who are open to God, willing to accept His word and willing to be told what to do because they have received some of Gods perfect faith. But we must be open to accepting the Spirit. Faith is a great gift that can lead to great things but always it comes to give glory to God.
When God came and walked amongst us as the Lord Jesus, perfect faith walked on the Earth. It talks perfect faith to stand before a crowd and call out to a man called Lazarus who had been dead for four days to get up and walk out of the tomb.
When we accept the gift of faith in our lives we accept a small part of this perfect faith. it is a gift given to us in times of trouble to strengthen us but it will always be available to us.
Faith is one of the most important gifts that the Spirit can give to us. It’s also one of the most important pieces of the Armour of God....
Eph 6:16 Above all, take the shield of faith, with which you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
We need to know, have everyday faith, in the fact that when we do battle in spiritual matters, God will equip us with what we need to be successful. It is when we start to come under attack that the Spirit holds out the gift of faith for us to take to protect ourselves. And when we have accomplished the task, the spirit takes this shield back from us. But because of our experience under the Holy Spirit, our everyday faith - which is based on experience and knowledge - is lifted to a higher level. It becomes more intense because it is built on a greater experience and knowledge.
But it does need to be during a time of trouble that the Holy Spirit will come and impart perfect faith into you. It could be at any time for any reason.
Act 3:1 And on the same day Peter and John went up into the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.
Act 3:2 And a certain man, who was lame from his mother’s womb, was being carried. And they laid him daily at that temple gate which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered into the temple.
Act 3:3 Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms.
Act 3:4 And fastening his eyes on him, Peter with John said, Look on us!
Act 3:5 And he paid heed to them, expecting to receive something from them.
Act 3:6 But Peter said, Silver and gold have I none, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!
Act 3:7 And taking him by the right hand, he lifted him up. And immediately his feet and ankle-bones received strength.
Act 3:8 And leaping up, he stood and walked and entered with them into the temple, walking and leaping and praising God.
Act 3:9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God.
So if we go back to verse 4 we read....
And fastening his eyes on him, Peter with John said, Look on us!
You get the impression that Peter had some form of knowledge about what was about to happen. This is more than a hope, this is faith in the knowledge that something will happen. And in verse 6 we read what it was that Peter knew....
But Peter said, Silver and gold have I none, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!
And its in these scriptures we again see the requirements for the manifestation of the gift of faith.
We see an impossible situation. Here is a cripple, crippled from birth who spends his life begging for alms. It’s a situation that is not going to change with mans intervention.
We then see the gift of faith being given. We see this in the words of Peter.
Finally we see the solution. The cripple gets up and walks.
We also see here that Peter acknowledges that it is the power of God, through the name of Jesus that would give healing to the cripple and the cripple then goes on to praise God! We see that the manifestation of the gift of faith came to give glory to God. Peter did not claim to be able to heal the cripple, the cripple did not give thanks to Peter for what he had done.
Any of the gifts of the Spirit, including the gift of faith, manifests itself for two reasons and two reasons only;
1. The glorification of God. The Spirit is the breath of God. If God breaths on you He does so to strengthen you with His power. He does not give you power for your own glorification. He expects you to be faithful to Him and tell others of his power.
2. To edify the body of Christ. And this is the reason why it is so important to give public praise to God for the workings of the Spirit in you life. If the spirit gives you a faith that you have not known before, if it has impacted on your life so much that you have been changed. And that is what the holy spirit does to you. It changes you. It brings you closer to God and it makes you more Christ like. Then you need to tell others about it. It does not mean that you have to go into details but it does mean you need to stand up and gives thanks to God.
Go to 1 Corinthians12:7
1Co 12:7 But to each one is given the showing forth of the Spirit to our profit.
Now move forward a few verses to verse 26
1Co 12:26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is glorified, all the members rejoice with it.
The gifts of the spirit are there to build up all. This is why all members of the body of Christ or all members of a church will not be filled with the spirit at all times. It is why some members have one type of gift and another person another gift. If we are truly one body, one family then when one is blessed, we all become blessed through them.
I know that in this church there sits people who have had the gift of faith breathed into them by the spirit because of one reason or another. And I know that because of the faith given to you by the Father through the Spirit you have become an inspiration for others around you. They see your faith and because the faith is of the spirit it overflows from you and into the lives of those that surround you or come into contact with you.
Just as a side note, have you noticed how some people always seem to have more gifts than you or be gifted more often than you? Consider this. The gifts of the Spirit are planted into you as a seed. But the fruits of the Spirit are your actions and responses to those seeds. If the spirit plants in you the gift of faith but you do nothing to bring it into fruit then pretty soon you will become barren ground that the Spirit will not be able to use. If the Spirit places in you the gift of faith for you to undertake a task that has been set aside for you by God but you look at it and say I can not do that, or I’m fearful of failure then you are turning your back on God, you are being a Jonah fleeing from his task and being disobedient. Bear this in mind, God does not give you the gift of faith to accomplish things you can do in your own abilities. If the gift of faith comes upon you, its in order to give you the strength to do things that you would not otherwise be able to do. Remember that faith is an active word. Faith without action just becomes hope. If you sit back wanting something to happen then you have hope, if you have faith you go out and do it knowing it will happen.
Going back to why some people seem to have more gifts and receive gifts on a more frequent basis. Be aware that the Spirit flows. When the Spirit gives a gift it is supposed to flow in you and then overflow into others around you. Too many people have received a gift from the Spirit and clung onto it saying it is my gift. No it’s not your gift, it is the gift from God given to you by the Holy spirit to edify the church. You do not heal, you do not perform miracles, you do not prophecy, you do not have wisdom or knowledge, you do not speak in tongues or interpret. It is the Holy spirit within you that does it and the spirit needs to flow out of you. If you try and keep it within you, if you become a dam to the flow of the spirit, if you set up barriers to prevent the spirit from flowing either because of fear or whatever reason then you close your heart to the gifts and the blessings that God has set aside for you.
You need to realise that the Spirit, like the blessings of God, comes in abundance, you need to open your heart fully to accept the gifts fully. If you only open up your heart a small amount, if you only allow a crack to appear then you will only receive the amount of gift that the spirit can send through that gap. This is why God loves the broken hearted. By broken hearted we speak of a heart that has been broken to worldly matters and fully opened to the Father. We need to break the chains that lock up our heart to God and the Spirit. We need to break the chains of fear, pride, unworthiness and inability.
Throughout the Bible we read of people who had fear or other chains that they had to break to become who they needed to become in God. Moses, David, Jonah and many more, all did not believe that they were special people in God. All had to come under submission to the will of God and all received the Spirit given Faith during times of difficulties. And God worked wonders and miracles through them because of their submission to Him. The Lords Spirit was able to flow into them and produce fruit that lifted His people up and glorified His name.
The gift of faith is one of the most important gifts that the spirit can give us. It underpins all of the other gifts. If you do not have faith in the words given to you by God how can you prophecy, if you do not have faith in the wisdom or knowledge that God opens up to you then how can you pass it on to others. If you do not have faith in the words that comes from God how can you tell the sick to be well. It takes a special, deep rooted God given faith to enable you to stand firm in the Lord and to trust in him when others look to see if you will fail.
That type of faith and all the other gifts of the Spirit is available to everyone of us who accepts Jesus as our saviour. He has said that he will send the Spirit to live within us to comfort us, to strengthen us to empower us to do the Fathers work. But the spirit can only work within us if we allow it to. To become an effective Christian, we need to grow up, as Paul says we need to stop taking in baby food and start to be given full nourishment. And that comes from the Spirit, from the gifts. We need to stop looking to others to feed us. We need to get the hunger and the desire to feed ourselves. We need to look for and listen for the voice of God within us and to act upon the revelation given to us by the Spirit. If God has placed on your heart a task to do, then if it will lift up the body of Christ and glorify God you need to accept the gift of faith that the Spirit has for you and step out and start to take action. If you step out in Spirit given faith then God will open up the opportunities to complete the tasks that need to be done. And when it’s over, the gift of faith will leave but your own inner faith would have been built up and the inner faith of others would have been built up because of what you have done.
Spurgeon speaks of an evening when he was riding home after a heavy day’s work. He felt weary and depressed, when as suddenly as a lightning flash came this verse, "My grace is sufficient for thee." He said, "I should think it is, Lord," and he burst out laughing. It seemed to make unbelief so absurd.
"It was as if some little fish, being very thirsty, was troubled about drinking the river dry, and the river says, ’Drink away, little fish, my stream is sufficient for thee.’
"Or, it seemed like a little mouse in the granaries of Egypt after seven years of plenty fearing it might die of famine, and Joseph might say, ’Cheer up, little mouse, my granaries are sufficient for thee.’
"Again, I imagined a man away up on yonder mountain saying to himself, ’I fear I shall exhaust all the oxygen in the atmosphere.’But the earth might say, ’Breathe away, oh man, and fill thy lungs ever; my atmosphere is sufficient for thee.’"
Little faith will bring our souls to heaven, but great faith will bring heaven to us.
