TEXT: Heb.11:1
INTRODUCTION
Everyone expresses faith in something or someone on a daily basis. Every time you take a chair and sit on it you are expressing faith in the carpenter that made it. But today, we want to look at the kind of faith that you express that can make your God known wherever you are.
WHAT IT FAITH?
Heb.11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hope for, the evidence of thing’s not seen”
Faith is now because the object of faith is Jehovah – I Am.
Faith is a substance that belongs to the realm of the spirit.
Faith is a force- when you have faith you do things- even things that are impossible Matt. 21:21, 11:12 ‘By force’ that force is faith.
It is acting on what you believe
Why is it that lots of Christians have faith that does not produce?
I want us to understand that there is a difference between faith and belief
One can say that faith and belief are two side of a coin
As a child of God, you believe in God but this must move a step further to act on the belief and this is what causes it to produce. Example of a man in church that collapses and the doctors examine him and say that he is suffering from starvation and if he does not get food within 20 minutes, he will die. A basket of food is brought in and the man is asked if he believes that when he eats the food he will be okay and he has lies there and says he believes and keeps believing but does not make any move to eat the fruit and 20mins gets by and then he dies. Did he believe? Yes. But did his believe produce No! Why? ‘Cause he did not act. So faith is acting on what you believe.
What are the characteristic of this kind of faith?
It is bold. –Dan.3:16-18
“We are not careful to answer in this matter”
David is the valley of Elah –Isam.17:32
Then David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail him, your servant will go and fight with this philistine”
It is a product of our God Consciousness.
3Hebrew children – Dan.3:17
For clarification sake they add something that reveals their reason for not having more to say.
ISam.17:34-36
David gave his resume about what he had been able to accomplish walking with God.
God is not a disappointment
Does not look at the pain but the gain:
Myles Munroe once said, “The world is ruled by dead men – who are willing to give up their lives for the course they believe in”. The 3 Hebrew boys were ready to be throw into the fire come what may. –Dan.3:37
At the face of conflict does not keep quite.
David knew he was a child of the covenant and Goliath had no part in the covenant.
As a man of the covenant you can’t go to battle
and return defeated.
David had faith in the covenant
He put his faith to work – He spoke
Got Goliath angry and he took a step against David.
David did not back up but the bible says David ran toward him
Our faith always moves God to action.
He had gone ahead of the 3Hebrew children to make fire powerless over the 3boys.
Vs 27 “…and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected and the smell of fire was not on them.”
As a result of all these their God became famous and worshipped throughout the land.
Vs 29 “Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation or language which speak anything against the God of Shedrach, Meshach and Abed-nego shall be out in pieces…”
They were also promoted
The story of David was also that of the Lord’s Victory.
David did what he did for the glory of God.
Goliath had ridiculed Israel’s God and blasphemed his name, but David was about to set the record straight
David saw this as a contest between the true God of Israel and the false god of the philistines and God won the victory that day.
May our faith in God always produce great victories for us that will make him famous wherever we find ourselves.
Dan 3:16-18
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
18 But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
1 Sam 17:34-37
And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:
35 And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.
36 Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.
Matt 21:21
Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.
Matt 11:12
And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
- PRISCA : It Is Well – Her Faith - February 28, 2010
- The Ten Commandments – Worship of God - February 21, 2010
- BAITS OF SATAN – LAZINESS - February 14, 2010