Hallelujah! How wonderful it is to worship the Lord. Here on earth we can trust God & His promises.
Do you know that the Bible says that “all things belong to you” (1 Cor 3:22) ? All things belong to God & He has given it to Christ & it is ours in Christ. In this hall we are enjoying the breeze & the lighting, but if the main switch is off, we are unable to enjoy the electrical facilities. Similarly in the Christian life, we need to put on the main switch of faith & obedience to receive & enjoy the benefits which are ours in Christ Jesus. Some people go through the practice of praying, singing few songs , give tithe and offering and even attend church regularly, but yet if the main switch is off, they will not experience what God has in store for them. My prayer for you in this church is that after I have preached and left this place, many of you will put the switch on.
Lets look at the biblical definition of faith. “Now faith is the assurance (substance) of {things} hoped for, the conviction (title-deed) of things not seen.” (Heb 11:1). Here this scripture begins with ‘Now’. Faith is the present, not the past, nor the future. Hope relates to the future, but faith is of the present. Faith is something tangible i.e. a substance. When we get the title-deed of any property, we rejoice though we may not have seen the property. Similarly faith is seeing the invisible! Faith leads to action.
In Hebrews 11 we find that through faith, Abel worshipped God, Enoch walked with God, Noah worked for God & Abraham went to an unknown destination. Faith propels us forward! It is written about Moses in Heb 11 that because he saw invisible,he was willing to forsake all the glories of the land of Egypt which he could see. Faith is seeing the invisible, feeling the intangible and achieving the impossible. We can understand more about faith through its various categories…Testing of faith, Trials of faith, Triumph of faith and Trophies of faith, which I may share with you the next time.
Today I would like to share with you on the different types of faith.
1. Grace faith : “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, {it is} the gift of God;
not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Eph 2:8,9). We all begin with this grace faith, when we receive Christ. We know that our salvation is not due to any good deeds but because of His grace in simple faith in what Christ has done for us.
2. Fruit faith : “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” (Gal 5:22,23). If we study the fruit of the Spirit, the first three relate to what we get when we have communion with the Father, the next three are the character of Jesus which is seen in us, and the last three are the outworking of the Holy Spirit in us.
3. Gift faith : In 1 Cor 12 & 14 chapters we find the gifts of the Spirit mentioned. Inspirational (i.e. distinguishing of spirits, {various} kinds of tongues, and the interpretation of tongues), Impartational (i.e. prophecy, word of wisdom , word of knowledge) & Implementation gifts (i.e. faith , gifts of healing ,effecting of miracles). We need the gifts of the Spirit to serve God effectively.
4. Spirit of faith : But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I BELIEVED, THEREFORE I SPOKE," we also believe, therefore we also speak (2 Cor 4:13). This is the highest level where we believe God to do the impossible! We believe therefore we speak! Joshua spoke to the sun to stand still & experienced an extended daylight! Moses lifted up his hand over the Red sea & it parted! Moses spoke to the rock & water flowed out!
May the Lord bless us and enable us to exercise faith in our lives that we may “put on” the main switch and experience all that He wants us to receive.
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