Faith

[Bro Tommy Baker]

 
What is Faith?

Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. We find in Hebrews 11 that faith was already present in the experiences in the old testament as a key element of their spititual lives. Noah built an arc by faith, Abraham offered his son as a sacrifice by faith, Moses confronted pharoah by faith, David slew Goliath by faith and all the prophets spoke the word of God by faith. If it were not for faith even the virgin birth could not have happened. If Joseph would not have married Mary because of his faith in the message he recieved in a dream, she would have been stoned to death by the Law for having concieved out of wedlock.

Lets look a little deeper.

There are different types of faith

Belief is a type of Faith

There are many examples of those who believed in the power of Jesus who came to him asking for healing and it was granted. They asked because they had heard first hand or witnessed his power already. Belief actually, even though it is the strongest faith, is the weakest kind of faith. Those who possess this type of faith have seen the power of Christ and know already he can answer there prayers. It is not hard to believe in something we have already experienced.

Hope is a type of faith.

An example of this is Matt15:21 - 28 as Jesus departed for Tyre and Sidon a woman from Canaan cried unto hm saying Lord have mercy on me, O Lord thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. and Jesus answered her 24 I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of Israel. 26 It is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs. Then in hope that He might have compassion on her she replied: 27 Truth Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from the masters table. 28 Jesus answered; O woman, great is thy faith, be it to thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

Luke 8:43 - 48 A woman who was diseased with an issue of blood for 12 years came behind him and touched his robe saying to herself if I could only touch the hem of his garment I will be healed and when she touched him Jesus felt the virtue go from him and he turned to ask who touched him and the woman fell down at his feet trembling and declared why she had touch him and that she was healed immediately and Jesus said unto her; Daughter be of good comfort, thy faith had made thee whole; go in peace. Both of these had hope that just the little they did would be enough. When you don't know for sure, cling to the hope that is in you that our father may increase your faith by showing you, so that you believe.

Trust is a type of faith:

When the Apostles saw Jesus walking on the water Peter said Matt 14:28 If it be thou, bid me to come unto thee on the water 29 and Jesus said come and when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus, not because he knew he could but because he trusted Jesus. There are several examples of this kind of faith. Matt 14:15 when Jesus fed 5000 men, women and children with only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes and they witnessed the miracle of picking up many baskets of leftovers after the multitude had finished eating because they trusted him enough to do what he said. In John 2:3, when he turned the water into wine because the servants trusted him to fill the pitchers with water and serv it to the guest. Luke 5:4 when the fishermen were so tired already from fishing all night but by trusting in Jesus went back out to fill their nets overflowing. This is the hardest kind of faith but the greatest of all. There are many occasions when the odds are impossible or you doubt your worthiness to receive your miracle. When you have no hope and the things you seek are impossible trust in the Lord and believe in his word.

Activating Faith

How do we activate the power of Faith? In every scripture of miracles done to people those of faith took action. Some had only ask. Others were told to do something as an act of faith, a blind man to wash his eyes in the river, a lame man to get up and walk, the wedding servants to fill the pitchers with water. To activate the power of faith we must act upon that faith even when we are doubtful. James 2:20 but wilt thou know, O vain man that faith without works is dead? This verse pertains to all things unto God. If one claims faith in Christ for his salvation and Christ tells him to help the poor is it not his duty to help the poor? Then also when a man needs a miracle he must ask and then do what he feels the Lord is telling him. Act in faith in everything you do.

Can we lose our faith?

Of course. The minute we believe, Lucifer wants to cause doubt and steal our faith. We have an advasary and his purpose is to cause us to give up and turn from Jesus. A great example of this is the continuation of the story of Peter walking on water Matt 14:30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was affraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying Lord save me. 31 and Jesus stetched forth his hand and caught him up and said to him O ye of little faith; wherefore didst thou doubt? Stand fast on the word of God even when the devil is tempting you to believe otherwise.

Faith is the instrument of our salvation:

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please God: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Rom 5:1 Therefore being justfied by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ 2 by whom also we have access by faith into grace and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Eph 2:8 For by Grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God 9 not of works least any man should boast 10 for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus.


How do we build faith.

Start by reading the gospels. From there God does the rest. When we read the story of the life of Jesus, the Holy Ghost will come upon you and cause you to know that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God and we grow to trust in Him. As we read about the miracles he performed and his teachings of righteousness it gives us hope. And as we act on that trust and on that hope we start experiencing the power of his love and the reality of His existance. The more we experience his power and his existance, the more faith we will have till we believe fully and there is no doubt. Jesus said I come that you may have life and have it more abundunt. This includes all aspects of our life from finances to general happiness to health. His word changes the way we think causing us to make better decisions thus changing our surroundings by our better choices making us realize the truth in his word and building our faith in our salvation through him. Faith is caused and strengthened by God.


Act upon the faith you have and if you have no hope, trust in the one who loves you enough that he sacrificed his own life that you may live. When the lame was told to get up and walk, if he would not have tried he would not have walked but when he tried he was incouraged by the strength in his legs and this gave him a little more faith to try harder and when he tried harder and stood up his faith grew even more and with each step he grew and grew in his belief till he was made whole. Trust in God enough to try and He will build your faith.

[Dr. Henry, President of the AOCI]

Rev. Baker, excellent article on Faith. Thank you for sharing and may God bless you, your family, and your ministry.