Luke 18:8 (NIV) When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" John 11:40 (NIV) Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?"
Examples 1. The Woman with the issue of blood. Matthew 9:22 (NIV) Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your faith has healed you." And the Woman was healed at that moment. 2. The Roman Officer(Centurion) Matthew 8:10 (NIV) When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, "Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. Matthew 8:13 (NIV) 13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would." And his servant was healed at that moment.
3. Two blind Men Matthew 9:29 (NIV) Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith let it be done to you."
Faith hears before it sees.
4. The Canaanite Woman whose daughter was demonized and suffering. Matthew 15:28 (NIV) Jesus said to her, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed at that moment.
5. A desperate Dad. Mark 9:20–25 (NIV) 20 So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. 21 Jesus asked the boy's father, "How long has he been like this?" "From childhood," he answered. 22 "It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us." 23 "'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for one who believes." 24 Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" 25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. "You deaf and mute spirit," he said, "I command you, come out of him and never enter him again."
We don't need great faith. We just need faith that is committed to growth.
A Growing Faith Matthew 17:19–20 (NIV) 19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it out?" 20 He replied, "Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
Matthew 13:31–32 (NIV) 31 He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches."
1. Identify where your faith is. "Vulnerable trust is bold faith."
We all have a measure of faith. Romans 12:3 (NIV) 3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.
2. Become a person of the word. Romans 10:17 (NKJV) So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
We grow our faith by growing in the word.
"Our faith grows by listing to, meditating upon, living in line with, and boldly declaring the Word of God!"
3. Be filled with the Spirit of God. The Spirit identifies us as God's. Romans 8:15 (NLT) So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, "Abba, Father."
Pray in the Spirit Jude 20 (NLT) But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit.
4. Rest with yielded spirit.
God isn't looking for strength. He is looking for Surender.
Independence is opposed to trust.
Don't trust yourself.
______ Psalms 46:10(NIV) Be still, and know that I am God!
Mark 4:35–41 (NIV) 35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” 39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. 40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” 41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
1. Going to the other side requires Faith. 2. Getting through the storms requires Faith.
Faith can sleep through storms
Faith speaks to storms.
3. Jesus identifies where their Faith was at. 4. The storm we can sleep through for our peace is the same storm we need to speak to for the peace of others. 5. Faith will cause others to recognize the Nature of God.
Hebrews 11:6 (NIV) Without Faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Faith is a fight. 1 Timothy 6:12 (NLT) Fight the good fight for the true Faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses.
1 John 5:4 (NLT) For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our Faith.
Faith is a shield Ephesians 6:16 (NIV) Take up the shield of Faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
3 arrows of the enemy If the devil can talk you out of Faith, he will take over your life.
Fear, 2. Doubt, 3. Unbelief
“I want you to learn, recognize, and identify those tactics so you can rise up in faith and extinguish them.” 1. Fear A. Some justify fear. B. Some victimize themselvesto fear.
Fear is failure to trust.
C. Some moralize fear. Fear is spiritual. Fear: cripples, controls and manipulates.
God doesn’t give us a Spirit of Fear. 2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT) For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.
2. Doubt Matthew 14:28–33 (NIV) 28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” 29 “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” 32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
Distazo (διστάζω, 1365), greek: Dublicate-Twice: waver “to stand in two ways”
James 1:6 (NIV) But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
John 6:22–31 (NIV) 22 The next daythe crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone. 23 Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus. 25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” 26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” 28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” 29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” 30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.” 35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.
1. The crowd was asking for a sign, yet he already provided signs.
2. The crowd was asking about the works(plural) God required; Jesus gives them the work (singular)God requires.
‣Believing is the work God requires.
What does believing mean?
πιστεύω Pisteuō; (verb) to believe, entrust.
A. To be convinced.
“If you are not convinced, you won’t live with conviction.” "Biblical Believing is the act of trusting based on the basis of its truthfulness and reliability."
B. To place ones trust in. Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV) Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 1. Faith is substantive. 2. Faith is evidential.
To believe is to actively trust.
1. Believing is the beginning. You have to believe Jesus to receive Jesus. Believing is how we are reborn Genesis 15:6 / Rom 14:3(NIV) Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Romans 4:18 (NIV) Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed… Acts 16:31 (NIV)“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.
Ephesians 2:8 (NIV) For it is by grace you have been saved,through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.
John 3:14–15 (NIV) 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
John 3:16–18 (NIV) 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
2. Belief empowers life in the Spirit. John 7:37–39 (NIV) “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.
Isaiah 40:31 (NIV) Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
