Faith
To
start with, the very first thing that must be pointed out is
priority.
Even being Spirit filled and seeing all kinds of miracles, we have absolutely nothing if we don't have love. 1 Cor 13:13 tells us, “But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.” That tells me that it is possible to have hope and miss the boat. We see this all the time in religion. We've said a prayer, so we are saved. However, we see nothing happening and our lives show nothing to the world. What a waste! What about the call to go into all the world and preach the Gospel? What about healing the sick, casting out demons... miracles? 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 tells us, “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.” It's possible to speak forth a prophesy and yet miss the boat. It's possible to have so much faith that we can do anything and yet miss the boat. First and foremost is love.
1 Cor 13:13 tells us that three things abide, faith, hope and love. It also tells us that the greatest of them is love. Period. I don't want to be in the position of being a big noise without love and I don't want to be in the position of being able to move a mountain, speak and make things happen, even to speak and make sickness go away... without the compassion that is inherent in love. So, before even talking about faith, I must point out that love is the absolute necessity of Christianity. I have more respect for the person who walks in the Love of Christ and has seen few or even no “miracles” than I do for the one who boasts about great things and is not moved by Christ's love and compassion.
Having said that, let's go on with faith.
Everyone has faith. There is a “gift of faith” in 1 Cor 14 and that is above and beyond, but everyone has faith. In fact Jesus said “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed...” Then in the Romans 12:3, we read, “For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.” The KJV says “... the measure of faith.” If we read the whole verse, without taking the last phrase out of its context, we have to consider that we can get puffed up by “faith.” That's something to guard ourselves against. Nonetheless, what God has given or allotted, we need to use..
I actually don't think this is really dependent on giving our lives to Christ. We can display that very easily. How many have flown? Did you run to the cockpit to make sure that the pilot wasn't drunk? Why not? Did you run to the cockpit and verify that the pilot had a license? Why not? Did you even check to see if there was a pilot? Why Not??? Faith. Worldly faith, to be sure, but faith, nonetheless It actually takes more faith to believe in evolution than creation. At least we have the Word of God. Did you examine the chair before you sat down? Why not? And if someone has had a chair collapse? Yes, their “faith” will be shaken, but usually, it won't be long before they find themselves plopping down in a chair again. Why??? Their faith has been built back up by experience.
So, what is faith? Hebrews 11:1 tells us, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.” We don't see the chair is structurally sound, but we have faith that it is. We don't see the pilot, but we have faith that he is there. Every person has a measure of faith. As far as I'm concerned, if we are to seek faith, we have two prerequisites. One, that it is based on and has its roots in God's Love. Two, that is is based on God and not the world or even a twisted interpretation of the Word. So, the question is how do we get it.
There is also a “faith that belongs to God.” In Mark 11:22, for instance, we see Jesus saying "have faith in God." This is, at least, how all the translations render it. Well, all except the literal translations. Young's Literal Traslation and the Literal Translation of the Bible render it, "have faith of God." What's the difference. Having faith in God would originate faith in our being directed to God. This isn't bad, in fact it is a very good beginning. BUT, having faith OF God taps into the faith that is inherent within God, Himself. Faith OF God originates within God, Himself, and we can only tap into it by walking with Him. When I have faith IN God, I'm going by what I see and am directing my faith to Him, Who can change it. When I have faith OF God, I'm walking with Him and begin to see His purpose. All my being is within His purpose, not mine.
Let's consider a few of the incidents in Jesus' ministry:
And Jesus said to them, "Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." 7 They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, "He said that because we did not bring any bread." :8 But Jesus, aware of this, said, "You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves that you have no bread? 9 "Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets full you picked up? 10 "Or the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets full you picked up? 11 "How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." Mat 16:6-11
These apostles had walked with Jesus. They had seen incredible miracles. Yes, it is a common interpretation that leaven is symbolic of sin. Here, it is specifically the spiritual pride and religious self righteoousness and piety. What's interesting, though, is that Jesus calls them men of little faith. He references the five loaves and five thousand and the seven loaves and four thousand. Why didn't they see that Jesus was talking about the religous hypocrisy was because they were preoccupied with food. Is it not obvious that the disciples could not have great faith because they were preoccupied with the needs of this world? Where your mind is, so is your heart. Their heart was based on what they saw. The resulet was little faith.
Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not drive it out?" 20 And He *said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. 21 ["But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting."]
Mat 17:19-21
The disciples could not cast out a demon because of the "littleness" of their faith. According to Jesus, if we had just a tiny bit of faith, we could move a mountain. Then He adds, that this kind only goes out by prayer and fasting. Might I ask what prayer and fasting has to do with this casting out of a demon? True prayer is a union with the Creator. It is a bond that is tightened with communication. Fasting is a conscious act of forcing the body to take second place to the spirit. What does that do? It keeps our mind focused on our Creator and sets a priority that forces a perspective. Prayer and fasting changes our focus to the spiritual realm and completely disregards the physical.
Seeing
this,
the disciples were amazed and asked, "How did the fig tree
wither all
at once?" 21
And Jesus
answered and said to them, "Truly
I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only
do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this
mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' it will happen.
22
"And
all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."
Mat 21:21-22
The Disciples were amazed at the withered fig tree. Jesus didn't think twice about it. He had cursed the fig tree aand it was cursed... period. He refers to the mountain again, this time telling them that if they had faith, they would not only wither fig trees, they wuld move mountains. All they had to do was pray, believing and they would receive what they asked. What was the difference? The disciples were looking at the fig tree. Jesus didn't even see it. All He saw was the spiritual. He knew He had spoken.
"And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, 6 and saying, "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented." 7 Jesus *said to him, "I will come and heal him." 8 But the centurion said, "Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 "For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes, and to another, 'Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it." 10 Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, "Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. 11 "I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; 12 but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." 13 And Jesus said to the centurion, "Go; it shall be done for you as you have believed." And the servant was healed that very moment." Mat 8:5-13
The centurian doesn't even ask Jesus to heal his servant. He just goes to Jesus and tells Jesus that his servant is paralyzed. Jesus says that He will come heal him and the centurian tells Him that this isn't necessary. He basically says, "I'm not worthy for You to come into my house. I understand authority all You need to do is say the word and he will be healed!" Jesus commends him as having greater faith than anyone in Israel. What was so special about this guy? He had authority over Jesus and the disciples in the worldly order. He was a soldier and Rome was in charge. He could have spoken a word and his men would have grabbed Jesus. That is as far as worldly authority goes, though, and this centurian didn't have his eyes on the world. He recognized that Jesus had authority over what the centurian had no control over. He recognized true authority. He had his eyes focused on Jesus and lost sight of the world. And Jesus commends this Gentile as having more faith that any of the Jews.
"When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. 25 And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, "Save us, Lord; we are perishing!" 26 He *said to them, "Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?" Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm. 27 The men were amazed, and said, "What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"” Mat 8:23-27 (NASB)
Jesus gets into the boat with His disciples and this storm comes up. The disciples are afraid for their lives and wake up Jesus. And He rebukes them. He calls them "men of little faith." Why??? Because they were afraid. Two things. 1. If they had faith, they could have commanded the storm to be still. 2. Perfect love casts out all fear. If they had been in touch with Perfect Love, they would not have been afraid. What am I saying? They saw the world around them. They were not looking at the spiritual world. If they had their mind on spiritual things, they would have realized that the created would not be able to threaten the Creator, unless God permitted it. That wouldn't happen until the cross.
So the real question is how do we get faith??? We don't! We receive it. The deeper we dig into God's Word, the more powerful God's Word will be in us. We need to choose to pay more mind to the Spirit world and disregard what the "world" tells us, even if it makes sense. After all, if it makes sense in the world, is it not worldly wisdom? However, the spiritual realm is another dimension. The world has no control at all over the Spirit. But in order for the spritual man to take over the natural man, we must do much more than quote a few verses.
“Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” Romans 10:17 If we are looking for faith, we are actually fortifying what God has already given us and basing it on the Word that He has revealed to us. It is possible to read the Word of God and not hear it. The word “hearing” actually infers “understanding” or "hearing with your heart."
2 Peter 1: 5-9 tells us, “Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.”
Since verse five begins with “Now for this very reason... ," it is incumbant on us to at least look at why... The phrase ties verses five through nine to the immediately preceeding verses.
Verses three and four tell us, “Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”
It is because we have these precious and magnificent promises that we are to apply all diligence in our faith and not to forget the other qualities that Peter mentions. Our faith is a integral part of these promises, as is the other qualities that Peter mentions, and it is also integral in being useful and fruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ...
So, again...
“Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” Romans 10:17
If we are looking for faith, we have to get into the Word. The more we get into the Word, the more our faith will be built in it. If we have faith in natural things by nature, why would we not concentrate on building our faith in the supernatural, especially when it far surpasses the natural. Could this be why Colossians 3:1-4 tells us, "Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”?