The God-kind of Faith

Mark 11:12–14 ESV

On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.

Mark 11:20–24 ESV

As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Romans 10:13–17 ESV

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Lesson Eight- The God-Kind of Faith

Central truth: The Kind of Faith that spoke the universe into existence is dealt to our hearts

There are two things to notice about the God-kind of faith

A Man belives with His heart

He believes with his words

It isn’t enough just to believe in your heart.

In order to get God to work for you, you must believe with your words also.

Jesus said in Mark 11:22-23, “Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. 23 I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart.”

This is the unalterable law of Faith

Mark 11:12-14 “The next morning as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 He noticed a fig tree in full leaf a little way off, so he went over to see if he could find any figs. But there were only leaves because it was too early in the season for fruit. 14 Then Jesus said to the tree, “May no one ever eat your fruit again!” And the disciples heard him say it.

Mark 11:20-24, “  The next morning as they passed by the fig tree he had cursed, the disciples noticed it had withered from the roots up. 21 Peter remembered what Jesus had said to the tree on the previous day and exclaimed, “Look, Rabbi! The fig tree you cursed has withered and died!” 22 Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. 23 I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. 24 I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. 25 But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.

Focus your attention on the statement that Jesus makes, “Have faith in God”, or as the KJV has in it footnotes, “Have the faith of GOd.”

This foot note tells us that Greek scholars believe that this should be translated, “Have the God-kind of Faith.”

Jesus demonstrated this kind of Faith in God- The God-kind of Faith! While He was far off, He saw the fig tree had leaves on it. But as He approached it, looking for fruit, He saw that is was barren.

Some people have questioned why Jesus looked for figs on this tree when is was not the right season for the figs to be ripe.

However, in that country, trees that had retained their leaves also had fruit or figs.

Finding no fruit Jesus said, “May no one ever eat your fruit again!”

The very next day Jesus and His disciples passed the tree and found that it was dried up from its roots. In amazement Peter said, “Look, Rabbi! The fig tree you cursed has withered and died!”

It was after this Jesus made this statement, ““Have faith in God. 23 I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart.”

After telling the disciples in vers 22, to have the God-kind of Faith, Jesus went on to explain what the God-kind of faith is:

The God-kind of faith is the kind of faith which a man believes with his heart and says with his mouth that which he believes in his heart- and it comes to pass

Jesus showed He had that kind of faith, because He believed what He said would come to pass. He said to the tree, “May no one ever eat your fruit again!”

This is the kind of faith that spoke the world into existence!

Heb 11:3 “By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.”

How did He do it? God Believed that what He said would come to pass

He spoke the Word, and there was an erth

He spoke the Word, and the vegetable kingdom came into existence

He Spoke the Word, and the animal kingdom came into existence

He Spoke the Word, and the heavens, the moon, the sun, the stars, and the universe came into existence

He said it and it was so!

That is God-kind of faith. God believed what He said would come to pass , and it did.

The Measure of Faith:

Jesus demonstrated the God-kind to His disciples, and then told them to have that kind of faith- The faith that a man believes with his heart, says with his mouth what he believes, and it comes to pass.

Someone misght say or think, “ I want that kind of faith. i am going to pray that God will give me that kind of faith.” However, you don’t need to pray for it, you already have it!

Romans 12:3, “Because of the privilege and authority* God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.1* * 12:3a Or Because of the grace; compare 1:5.”

ESV- “The measure of Faith that God has assigned (Dealt).”

assigned- to assign a particular part or aspect of a function or responsibility1

Notice that Paul wrote this to believers, because he says in Romans 1:7, “To all those in Rome who are loved by God, and called to be saints.”

Paul is saying that the faith by which we are saved in not of ourselves; it is not a natural human faith

It is given to sinners by God

and How does God give the sinner faith to be saved?

Romans 10:17, “So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.”

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God

Believing and Saying- the Key to Faith:

Romans 10:8 “  In fact, it says, “The message is very close at hand;

it is on your lips and in your heart.”* And that message is the very message about faith that we preach”

How does this compare with the words of Jesus in Mark 11:23?

Paul’s writings to the Romans completely agree with what Jesus told His disciples when He said, “Whosoever shall say… and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe…shall have whatsoever he saith.”

We see here the basic principle inherent in the God-kind of faith:

believing with the heart and saying it with the mouth

Jesus believed it, and He said it.

God believed it, and He said it, speaking the earth into existence.

Romans 10:9-10 says, “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.”

A Measure of faith is dealt to the sinner through the hearing of the Word of God.

then they use it to created the reality of salvation in their own lives.

What does the New Creation life look like?

When Christians are asked “when were you saved?” they often answer by saying something along the lines of “May 23rd at 10am.”

they are mistaken because God saved them nearly 2,000 years ago!

It has only become their reality when they believed it and confessed it

Salvation belongs to everyone- “Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved!” (Romans 10:13)

Every man and woman in this world has a legal right to salvation

John 3:16

Jesus died for the whole world, not just for you and me.

When the truth is preached to the sinner, it causes faith to come- When they believe and confess, they create the reality of it in their own lives by their faith!

Romans 10:13-17 “  For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”*

14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”*

16 But not everyone welcomes the Good News, for Isaiah the prophet said, “Lord, who has believed our message?”* 17 So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.”

Just as faith comes from hearing the Word of God, so does anything we receive from God.

The God-kind of faith comes by hearing God’s Word.

in other words, God causes the God-kind of faith to come into the hearts of those who hear.

It is no wonder that Jesus said in Luke 8:18, “So pay attention to how you hear. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what they think they understand will be taken away from them.”

You cannot let it go in one ear and then out the other, because that won’t do you any good.

Faith won’t come or grow

If you act as if the Word of God is merely just some fairy tle, faith won’t come.

But if you accept it reverently and sincerely- when you act upon it- faith comes!

Paul writes in 2 Cor 4:13, “But we continue to preach because we have the same kind of faith the psalmist had when he said, “I believed in God, so I spoke.”

NKJV “And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak,”

Paul said we have the same spirit of Faith- and what he wrote to the Corinth Church He still applies to the Church today.

What he says belongs to the Church at Corinth belongs to the Church Today

There is no occasion where Paul or any other apostle, ever write to encourage people to believe- never do they write to have faith

We say it all the time- “Just have some faith, just Believe”

Our having to encourage believers to believe or have faith is a result of the Word of God, having lost its reality to us

We are believers!

When a child leave their home, the parents don’t write to them and say, “Be sure to keep breathing.” Or “make sure you drink water.”

They will continue to breathe as long oas they are alive, and they will continue to drink water to surive.

Neither do we have to encourage believers to believe, because that is what hey are- Believers.

How many of us realize that our words dominate us? Proverbs 6:2 says, “  if you have trapped yourself by your agreement

and are caught by what you said”

NKJV “  You are snared by the words of your mouth; You are taken by the words of your mouth.”

AMP “You are snared with the words of your lips, you are caught by the speech of your mouth.”

Defeat and failure do not belong to the child of God.

God never made a failure

God makes us new creatures

1 John 4:4, “ But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.”

NKJV, “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”

God created the universe with words! Words filled with faith are the most powerful things in the World.

The Key to the God-kind of faith is believing with the heart and confessing with the mouth.

Kenneth Hagin says, “Our Lips can make us millionaries or keep us paupers”

Our Lips can make us victors or keep us captives

We can fill our words with faith, or we can fill them with doubt

We can fill our words with love that will help the discouraged and broken-hearted; with faith that will stir heaven.

We can make our words breather the very atmosphere of heaven

Our faith will never rise above the Words of our lips

We will never be greater then our confession

Jesus told the woman with the issue of blood that her faith had made her whole.

Thoughts may come, and they may persist in staying, but if we refuse to put those thoughts into words, they die unborn.

Cultivate the habit of thinking big things.

Learn to use words that will react upon your own spirit.

Faith’s Confessions create realities

Realization follows the confession

Confession precedes possession

Memory Text

Romans 10:8, “ But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach).”

Lesson in Action:

James 1:22 “but be doers of the Word, and not hearers only…”