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The door of entrance to the Kingdom – by Faith.

As Eugene H Petersen words it in the Message translation:  It’s impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him. (Heb 11:6)

“Jesus answered and said unto him, ‘Verily, verily I say unto thee, Except one be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God… If I told you earthly things and ye believeth not, how shall ye believe if I tell you heavenly things?… He that believeth on him is not judged; he that believeth not hath been judged already, because he hath not believeth on the name of the only begotten Son of God.'” John3:3, 12, 18

Total spiritual poverty, not possessions, nor decisions for Christ Jesus, but a sense of absolute futility, is the door into the Kingdom. Spiritual poverty necessitates “to be born again”, which leads to total redemption. This in turn means that Jesus Christ put into any man the same disposition that ruled His own life, a victorious Kingdom life. All this happens by faith alone through the King’s grace.

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A.       FAITH IS THE KEY THAT UNLOCKS THE DOOR INTO THE KINGDOM

Faith is fundamental to Christian creed and conduct, for we are saved by faith. (Eph. 2:8) As Christ conversed with people and healed them He looked for the characteristic of faith in each one.

° The Syrophoenician woman showed persevering faith. (Mark 7:26)
° The Centurion manifested a humble faith. (Matt. 8:8-10)
° The blind man showed an earnest faith. (Mark 10:51)
° Daniel manifested a daring faith. (Dan 6:10-23)

Faith is confidence in God that leads us to believe His word, the Holy Bible. By faith we receive Jesus Christ as our Saviour and confess Him to the world. There is nothing in the world more practical than faith. It may seem to the naturalist a very dreamy, speculative thing, but when we stop to think we will readily see that the most practical thing in life is confidence. In the higher world, the mightiest force is faith. It is the law of Christianity. Paul calls it the “law of faith”. It is just as mighty a law in the spiritual realm, as gravitation is in the material world. It binds us to God, and then to one another.

B.       DEFINITION OF FAITH

According to the dictionary, faith is defined as follows:  Faith is belief, trust, fidelity, or loyalty to a creed or religion.  The Biblical definition is found in Heb 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”.

We relax and, without looking, place our whole weight on a chair: faith says we will not fall. Faith is simple enough for the child to fulfill but too sublime for the sage (man of great wisdom) to comprehend fully or explain satisfactorily. A few important principles regarding faith, can be stated as follows:

° Faith is not the blind act of the soul: faith in God rests upon the best of evidence, the infallible Word of God.
° Faith is trust in the God of the Scriptures and in Jesus Christ whom He has sent, which receives Him as Saviour and Lord and impels loving obedience and good works.
° The faith that saves is a personal trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith saves us because it puts us into the hands of God.
° Faith means that God will do what He has promised. The power of faith asks not how much I can do but how much God can do.

C.       NECESSITY OF FAITH

“And 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.” (Heb. 11:6)

There can be no dealings with the invisible God without faith in His existence. We must believe that He exists; that He rewards men; this confidence is called faith.

·         Abraham went out, leaving the culture and wealth of that ancient civilization, out in the wilderness and God gave him a New Kingdom. He dared to risk everything upon God.

·         Joseph went down for years until his life was crushed. But through it all he believed in the vision of his youth, and became the lord of Egypt, transforming the destiny of two nations.

·         Jesus Himself became the Prince and Leader of our faith, and achieved His miracles and worked His mighty deeds by faith in God. He never doubted God. He always expected the thing to come to pass that He claimed.

Faith is necessary to salvation. Exercise faith.  The Word says “Believe.. and be saved” (Acts 16:31) Faith saves us because it puts us into God’s hands. It drops us into the salvation that He has already finished, and we have only to accept. Faith sanctifies us, not because it would have us do better, but it brings the power to do it. So faith heals, not by slowly building up the tissues and blood, but by putting a new electric fountain of vitality in  the frame. Faith brings the answers to our prayers because it takes God’s prayers instead of ours and then they must be answered because they are His. Faith puts us out and brings God in and our life becomes a supernatural one. Faith is, therefore, a practical force, the secret of all real power and a secret, which can be applied to everything in our life.

D.       NATURE OF FAITH

There are two kinds of faith in regard to salvation:

·         Head belief – knowledge of the historical Christ and a general acceptance of the Bible.

·         Heart belief – faith from the heart that causes the person to act on his faith.

“And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ…” (Acts 16:31)

Note the “On” and not “in”. For example, a sick man has a bottle of medicine. He believes IN the medicine, that if taken he would recover. But if he believes ON the medicine, he will act on his belief and actually swallow the medicine. Neither knowledge nor assent is true faith; true faith involves appropriation. Faith is the soul leaping forth to embrace the Christ in whom it believes

There are two ways to do things – by faith or by works; by one you do them yourselves by the other you let God do them.

1.         The Divine Side

Faith is the work of the Triune God

a)        God the Father

“In accordance with the measure of faith God has given you” (Romans 12:3)

Every man, therefore, has the inward potential of faith.

“To another faith by the same Spirit…” (1 Cor. 12:9)

Some have more faith than others do for faith is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.

b)       God the Son

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:2)“And the apostles said unto the Lord, increase our faith.” (Luke 17:5)

We all have faith but as we exercise it and pray our faith grows and increases.

c)        God the Spirit

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy…faith…” (Galatians 5:22)

2.         The Human Side

“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” (Rom. 10:17)

As we read stories of the Bible our faith grows greater and greater. As we listen to God’s Word preached our faith grows stronger and stronger.

“The people heard the Word of God (spoken word) and believed” (Acts 4:4)

In other words, they had faith.

“Lord, I believe; help my unbelief”. (Mk. 9:24)

The disciples prayed, “Increase our faith”. (Lk. 17:5) Jesus tells His disciples that certain demons can only be cast out by prayer and fasting accompanied by a living, vital faith in the Lord. (Mt. 17:19-21)

E.        THE OBJECT OF FAITH

1.         The Word Of God

Faith must never be faith in a nebulous thing called “faith”. It must be faith in the Word of God, as the very Word of God, true and genuine.

2.         The Person Of Christ

Faith in itself is not a Saviour; it is faith in a Person – the Divine Person called the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith is not a meritorious thing in itself, but the medium by which I receive the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour and Lord.

F.        PRINCIPLE OF FAITH

The principle of faith is the same as that which we act on in everyday life:

° we ask the grocer for milk and accept the tin without looking into the tin to see whether or not there is milk inside; we believe the label and act accordingly.
° All business is carried on by the principle of faith and confidence in others by relying on the testimony of others.
° The taxi driver doesn’t ask to see your money first; by faith he believes that you have money and will pay him at the end of the trouble.

Faith in God is putting confidence in Him and His Word; it is resting on the testimony of the    individual involved, be he a merchant, salesman, or the Lord Himself.

Faith must be absolute and unwavering. You cannot have a half faith. It must be without doubting. The element of uncertainty destroys the vitality of faith just as much as a scratch defaces a mirror. The faith, which accomplishes omnipotent results, is confidence, boldness and full assurance.

Next we are told that faith is the receiving organ of the soul, that without it we cannot receive anything of the Lord. “God give to all men liberally,” – “of course,” as Alford translates it. God always gives. But the unbelieving heart cannot receive. It is fettered and paralysed by its doubts, and is like the sensitive plant that shrinks helplessly and it misses the blessing that His love would gladly have bestowed.

“Let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord”. (Jam. 1:7)

G.       RESULTS OF FAITH

1.

We Are Saved By Faith

“And he (Abraham) believed in the Lord; and He counted it to him for righteousness”. (Gen. 15:6; Rom. 4:3)

2.

We Receive Christ By Faith

“…even to them that believe on His Name.” (John. 1:12)

3.

We Are Justified By Faith

“Therefore being justified by faith…” (Rom. 5:1)

4.

We Become Children Of God By Faith

“For you are all sons of God, through faith in Christ Jesus”. (Gal .3:26)

5.

We Are Sanctified By Faith

“…which are sanctified by faith…” (Acts 26:18)

6.

We Are Kept By Faith

“We are kept by the power of God through faith…” (1 Pet. 1:5)

7.

Faith Brings Rest

“For we who have believed do enter that rest”. (Heb. 4:3)

All the exploits recorded in Hebrews 11 are possible to those who have faith.

Our faith or the lack of it (unbelief) determines our eternal destiny. By faith we can be saved and spend eternity in heaven with our Lord Jesus Christ. By unbelief we will be found yet in our sins and finally cast into hell forever

“So Jesus said to them, ‘Because of your unbelief: for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain move from here to there, and it will move and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Mt. 17:20)

Jesus attributes a kind of omnipotence to faith; the disciple, by faith, will do greater things than his Master; here is a Niagara of power for you and me.

“For indeed the Gospel was preached to us as well as to them: but the word which they heard did not profit them, being mixed with faith in those who heard it.” (Heb. 4:2)

H.       AN INDICATION OF TRUE FAITH?

1.         Faith Is A Christ-Pricing Grace

It puts a high valuation upon Christ.

“To you that believe He is precious”. (1 Peter 2:7)

Paul best knew Christ. He saw Christ with his bodily eyes in a vision and, when he was caught up into the third heaven.

(In comparing all other things:) “I count all things but dung that I may gain Christ.” (Phil. 3:8)

2.         Faith Is A Refining Grace

Faith is in the soul as fire among metals: it refines and purifies. Faith washes the inside.

“Having purified their hearts by faith”. (Acts 15:9)

Faith makes the heart a holy of holiest. Though it does not take away the life of sin, yet it takes away the love of sin. Faith is a heavenly plant, which will not grow in impure soil. Let us examine our hearts whether they are unclean fountains sending out the mud and dirt of pride and envy.

3.         Faith Is A Grace Of Obedience

“the obedience of faith”. (Rom. 16:26)“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Eph. 2:8,9)

Faith melts our will into God’s. It runs at God’s call. If God commands duty, faith obeys.

“By faith Abraham obeyed”. (Heb. 11:8)

Faith is not idle. It has an eye to see Christ. It has a hand to work for him. It not only believes God’s promise, but obeys his command. The true obedience of faith is a cheerful obedience. Do you look upon God’s command as your burden, or privilege; as an icon chain around your leg or as a gold chain on your neck?

4.         Faith Is An Assimilating Grace

° It changes the soul into the image of the object – it makes it like Christ.

° Faith, looking on Christ, transforms a man.

° Looking on a bleeding Christ causes a soft bleeding heart.

° Looking on a holy Christ causes holiness of heart.

° Looking on a humble Christ makes the soul humble.

° Looking on Christ changes the Christian into His likeness.

5.         True Faith Grows As All Living Things Grow

“From faith to faith” (Rom. 1:17)

How may we judge the growth of faith? Growth of faith is judged by strength. We can do now what we could not do before. You can bear crosses with more patience. Doing duties in a more spiritual manner with more zeal sees growth of faith. When an apple has grown to full size, it then grows in sweetness. Likewise when duties are performed in love we become sweeter.

Common sense is not faith, and faith is not common sense. Nothing Jesus Christ ever said is common sense, it is revelation sense, and it reaches the mountain peaks where common sense fails. Faith must be tried before the reality of faith is genuine. The quality of faith that is well pleasing to God is a tremendously active principle, which always puts Jesus Christ first. (Mt. 6:33)

FAITH IS THE WHOLE MAN RIGHTLY RELATED TO GOD BY THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRIST. THE RESULT IS A DISCIPLE IN THE KINGDOM, LOYAL TO GOD UNDER ALL CIRCUMSTANCES, WHATEVER HE MAY DO.

Faith brings us to the place of truth that agrees with the Fathers purpose in and through us as we receive His Son as our Lord and saviour causing us to declare: I have been crucified with Christ, and I live; yet no longer I, but Christ lives in me. And that life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith toward the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself on my behalf (Gal 2:20)

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