Faith!

Faith!

by Wayne Dailey
Senior Pastor, Bethel Revival Center
43 Norwood St.
Everett, MA 02149

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Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Faith. Take hold of that word! God has given us a faith and we ought to use it: By faith . . . through faith . . . with faith!

Romans 12:3b
. . . God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

God has dealt to you the measure of faith, and He has dealt to me the measure of faith. First of all, we need to have faith to get saved, and then we need faith to continue on and live this life.

The substance of things hoped for: You hope for something, really looking to have it. Well, faith is the substance of that thing you hope for, the evidence of things not seen. You don't see it, but with faith you believe it's right there.

Hebrews 11:2
For by it the elders obtained a good report.

The elders lived by faith, they walked by faith. They did that which was right and there were results. We find that they obtained a good report with God. Why? Because they believed.

Believe . . . Don't Doubt

So, you've got to do some believing. Do you want things to happen? Believe! Don't let things affect you and pull you down to where you're scared to death. Believe God.

What is it that you want to obtain?

Well, if you want the blessing, you've got to take the Word of God seriously. Do you want God to do something for you? Believe He will do it. Are you faced with a need wherein you need God's help? Just believe Him to help you, and He will.

That's faith. You're taking action with your faith: You're going to believe God.

Over the years in our experience with the Lord, my wife and I have believed God time after time for that which we needed. When we were sick, we believed God for healing, and how many times He has done just that, bringing healing to our bodies.

But then, there's the doubter. What is Thomas noted for? He's called Doubting Thomas. Thomas would not believe except he first saw it. He would believe that Jesus rose from the dead only when he first saw the nail prints in His hands. If he didn't see those prints first, he wasn't about to believe.

There are a lot of people who are just like Doubting Thomas. What name do they give the state of Missouri? The Show Me State: "I'll believe if you show me." That's doubt. And it can turn into downright unbelief: "I refuse to believe God."

If you find this is true of you, just get over it. Determine that you're going to start believing God, to start believing His Word. You're going to stop doubting; you're going to hold your faith steady, and you're going to go on with God.

Don't let things get in your way to hinder you. Go on with God, holding firm to your faith. You'll find out for yourself just how good and great God really is and how much He will help you.

You Can Believe GOd

First of all, know that you can believe God.

Your faith and your trust in the Lord have to be built up. You need to take time and build this into your life.

Numbers 23:19
God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent: hath He said, and shall He not do it? or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good?

We need to know that God cannot lie and that the promises He gives us are exceeding great and precious.

II Peter 1:4
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

You shouldn't find it hard to believe God's Word and believe His promises. It's only hard to believe when you're a Doubting Thomas: wanting to see first before you will believe.

That's probably what you've done many times, believed only after you have seen.

God Speaks . . . Things Happen!

Hebrews 11:3
Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

This is something that our minds find difficult to get hold of, but it is saying something real to us: Through faith we understand. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God. We understand that they came into existence by the word of God. God spoke the word and something happened.

Genesis 1:1,3
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth . . . And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

Yes, God has power to create merely by speaking the word.

Matthew 8:8b
. . . speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.

All the Lord wanted this man to do in Matthew 8 was to believe. And we want to be in the realm where we, too, believe that if He would speak the word only, the answers will come.

Hebrews 11:3
Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

All those things which God has made were made of things we can't see. We understand this through faith. They came into being merely by God speaking the word.

And God lets us know that if we would but speak the word, the answer will be there. That's ample.

Believe God!

We each have been given faith. Let's not lay it aside but take it up and believe. When we pray, let's believe God.

But we've got to do more than just say we believe. We've got to use our faith and stand firm in faith, believing.

Now, what did Paul say when the storm was raging and everyone feared for their lives?

Acts 27:25
Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.

"Sirs, I believe God!" The ship was about to be torn apart on the rocks. It looked like they would all perish, yet Paul was believing God.

The angel of God had visited Paul, assuring him that there would be no loss of life, and Paul believed God. "Sirs, I believe God!" This was his faith.

He was believing, regardless of what it looked like.

They were headed for the rocks. If they crashed then they would all perish. But Paul was told by the angel that not one of them would perish — not one.

There it is: faith. A real, pure, true faith being expressed. Yes, Paul believed God.

Now, if Paul could believe God in that storm, what can you and I do? We can believe God just as easily as he did.

God will often put us into the place of believing, because He knows what's ahead for us, and He wants us to be in the place of taking hold to believe.

Since believing ought to be a real part of our life, then why don't we put more into it?

"Sirs, I believe God!" Look at those words and realize there's something very real there. How could it come about that all those lives would be spared in that storm? Bear in mind that it didn't just happen by chance.

We want to believe God with a faith like Paul reflects here. He had a real faith. When you looked at the circumstances, it seemed like there was no hope; but yet, Paul believed God.

Then there was the day that Paul was stoned by an angry crowd who dragged him out of the city, thinking he was dead:

Acts 14:19
And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and, having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead.

They drew him out of the city as a dead man. What could you have done for Paul if you had been there?

Acts 14:20
Howbeit, as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city: and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.

When you're in a situation where there seems to be no way out, all you have to do is to believe God.

Paul didn't let this stop him. He didn't let fear hold him back. He rose up and went right back into that city!

The crowd wanted to stop him from preaching Christ. They didn't want him to live, so they tried to kill him. But did he live?

Paul not only lived, he didn't let persecution stop him. He knew persecution wasn't something that faith couldn't handle.

We sing a song that says: "We don't need a lot of faith. All we need to do is use the little bit we have."

We saw in Hebrews 11:2 where the elders obtained a good report by faith. And here we see where Paul obtained a good report by his faith. By faith, Paul believed the word which had been spoken to him that night in the storm. He believed it and he embraced it.

Do you believe God? Do you believe He is with you?

Wavering Faith

By faith Peter walked on the water. It wasn't ice; it was H2O — real water. It was the kind where if you stepped on it you would sink right down into it.

Matthew 14:28,29
And Peter answered Him and said, Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And He said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

The skeptic would say: "I couldn't believe that! I couldn't believe you could step out and walk on the water." Well, Jesus believed it and He did it with no problem at all.

How could you come around to believe you could do this? Just try it once. If the water's knee deep and you try walking on it, you'll find yourself knee deep before you know what happened — all for doubting.

There was another storm where Jesus was asleep in the boat. The disciples woke Him for fear they would perish in the storm. All Jesus had to do was say, "Peace, be still," and the storm ceased!

Mark 4:39,40
And He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And He said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?

The faith of Jesus is something that fills us with wonderment. I thank God that we can learn something when we look at Jesus in the Word.

Could we learn to walk on the water? It's not something impossible — Jesus did it and so did Peter, for a short time. No, it's not something impossible with faith, but it is something we haven't been challenged to do.

Jesus shows us time after time that all He had to do was speak the Word. These accounts are exciting to read, but it would be even more exciting if we had been right there when they took place. It would have been something to be down there at the seashore watching Jesus walk on the water! Wouldn't we have been excited?

Did Peter see it happen? He not only saw it, he got down there and took a few steps himself. He had some faith that day — but then his faith wavered:

Matthew 14:30,31
But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

When Peter had his eyes on the Lord, he stepped out in faith and began to walk on the water. But when he took his eyes off of Jesus for just a moment, he started to sink.

Use Your Measure of Faith

Some are hindered in the same way that Peter was hindered: They begin to doubt. Listen, God gave each of us the measure of faith, but we've got to use it if it's going to mean anything.

Take that measure of faith and start using it. If you do, you'll soon be brought into the place where you begin to see the manifestations of the power of God.

If you find yourself doubting, just think of the day Jesus ascended into heaven. How did He get up there? What did He use to climb with?

Acts 1:9
And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight.

He just rose up out of sight right before their eyes! And one day, those of us who are saved and walking with the Lord will be caught up in the clouds with Him to be brought into heaven, where we will ever live with Him.

Realize that faith is the evidence of things not seen. We may be believing God to do something yet waiting in faith until we see the results.

By faith the elders obtained a good report. What kind of report do we have in our life?

Fear Hinders Faith

Some are always saying: "I can't! I can't! I'd like to, but I just can't!" Is that you? "I can't do it! It's too much, Lord! I can't!" There are a lot of people who live in this realm: They can't do anything. There's a fear that grips them. What are they afraid of?

We don't want to be bogged down with fear. In the Scriptures God makes it known to us that we don't have to be afraid.

I John 4:18
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

Romans 8:15
For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

Do you remember how you were afraid of the dark when you were a little child? Are you still afraid of the dark?

My grandfather lived in an area where there were a lot of panthers. It wasn't a pleasant place to be. If you had to go out in the dark, you didn't know what you might meet up with. But my grandfather didn't seem to be afraid of meeting one of those panthers in the dark.

As soon as you let fear enter in, things are going to start happening that you won't be able to handle — because you're afraid.

Fear is the absence of faith. So let's take to heart what God has said and believe Him. Be like Paul: "Sirs, I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me."

Acts 27:18-20
And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship; and the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship. And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.

How could Paul believe God when such a storm was raging? Because he had faith to believe what was told him that night by the angel of God.

Hebrews 11:3
Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

All things were made by Jesus:

John 1:1-3
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made.

Colossians 1:16,17
For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him: and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.

The Bible tells us that Jesus created all of these things. Just think! He had the ability to create the beautiful heavens that we see and the earth that we live on, and so much more.

Now, this planet we call earth was made to be inhabited by man. Why doesn't Mars have any people living out there? It's a planet, too, but planet earth is different. Those little tractors we sent to Mars searched around to see what was there and what wasn't there. But they didn't find anybody living there.

This world was made for us, but just think of what people do to it. Think of the ways they're destroying what God has made. The mess the oil wells made years ago when I grew up in Pennsylvania. It was during the war years, and they were drilling oil wells as fast as they could because they needed oil for the war.

They'd drill deep down into the ground, and, all at once, the oil would start spraying into the air as far as you could look up. All that oil spraying everywhere. What a mess it made.

Now, we want to live in the realm where we are believing God all of the time, not just when something comes up that puts us in the place of believing Him.

Stand with Him — He'll get you through. Take what God has said to heart. He said He gave us the measure of faith. He wanted us to have it to use.

I believe God because He can be believed.

Faith and the Will of God

We want to be in the place where we take to heart the dealings of the Lord concerning His will. The will of God is very important to each of us.

There are so many things in His Word that pertain to His will for our lives. Know that we're not going to change His will for us. It's His will, and our part is to do His will: to obey it, to yield to it.

Many get married without ever considering whether or not it is the will of God for them to marry that particular one. The trouble is, in a few months they're ready to marry someone else, and then, not too long after that, another. They never take to heart to say: "Let me seek out the will of God. I'm going to pray and see if it's the will of God for me to marry this person."

If we're truly sincere and take the time to seek it out, God will let us know if something is His will or not. It makes a lot of things much easier for us when we realize there is the realm where we're in will of God. And there is the realm where we're not in His will.

What is God's will for you is what's important to you. Know that He has given you sufficient faith for your life, and be sure that you use it. It's up to you to take it up and do something with it.

Thank God that we can walk by faith, letting Him have His way with us. Like the elders mentioned in Hebrews 11, we can have a good report because we believe God.

He gives us faith, but we're not always willing to take what He gives and keep it active.

All things are possible to him that believes (Mark 9:23). Take Hebrews 11 and look at the many things faith accomplished, just because someone dared to believe God — and then begin to use your faith.

James 2:17,18
Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works.