According To your Faith
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Listening
Listening
I was driving back from West Union the other day and as I always do when I’m driving, I had the radio tuned to 89.9. HMS Richards was on and he was talking about bible verses that exhibit the faith the Jesus had. I remember as I was listening, an impression came to my mind just as clear as if it was spoken. Sermon title: According to Your Faith. That doesn't very often happen with me, so I kept repeating that thought over and over in my mind till I got home and could write it down.
Now when that happens, it would probably be prudent to explore that thought further wouldn’t it? So today we will do just that.
Prayer
29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.”
This is the only verse in the Bible with this particular phrase. The NLT uses the word “because of”
Jairus had come to Jesus pleading with Him to come and restore his dead daughter to life. Jesus on his way to Jairus’ house had also healed the woman who had been constantly bleeding for 12 years.
Upon his departure from Jairus’ house, 2 blind men came and begged Jesus to give them their sight back. Jesus asked them if they believed that He could do this thing. They said “Yes Lord”. There eyes were healed and He told them not to tell anyone.
The Significance
The Significance
ACCORDING to YOUR FAITH
I see three parts to this phrase: “according” “your” and of-course “faith”. Faith is talked about a lot and I don’t want this to be just another faith sermon. It’s that phrase that stuck in my memory. But to understand the phrase we have to understand faith. Paul tells us in the 1st verse of the faith chapter -
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Faith, in Greek pistis, means trust, confidence in, reliance upon, pledge, proof. It denotes either an attitude of mind or a pattern of conduct, like faithful conduct being the product of an attitude of faith. These two shades of meaning are closely interwoven throughout chapter 11, each instance of and person of faith cites and leads to a faithful dead.
What’s Substance? The Greek word for substance, hupostasis means essence, actual being, reality, or confident assurance. There is no such thing as blind faith. Genuine faith always rests upon the firm, underlying “substance” of sufficient evidence to warrant confidence in what is not yet seen. Hupostasis was used in the ancient papyri of the legal documents by which a person proved his ownership of property. The documents were not the property, but they provided evidence of its existence and of his right to it.
With this knowledge then a Christian by faith considers himself or herself already in possession of the promised blessings that Jesus said He would bestow. We can receive them and enjoy them now. The good things to come are no longer dreams to be fulfilled in the future, but living realities now.
The “things hoped for” is our promised inheritance given to us at the second coming of Christ
What about evidence? Evidence or the Greek word elenchos means proof or conviction or even assurance. Faith is not abstract belief that evidence exists, but a settled assurance, based on confidence that God will fulfill His promises.
Have we seen the generator or power source that is powering our lights this morning? We do figure that there has to be one at the end of the power line because we have electricity. Similarly we believe that our physical, mental and spiritual energies come from God, our supernatural source of life and power. Faith is increased by the evidences that we see that God is working in our lives.
So faith is not this nebulous idea that just sits out there. Faith is produced by the evidence we see in our personal lives, when we are in tune with God and we can see what he’s doing for us. A constant outlook of trust and dependence on toward God.
So let’s make it more personal now.
Your Faith
Your Faith
When we think of the word “your” what comes to mind. Descriptors might be: mine, me, the possessor of something, relating to oneself. It’s very personal word isn’t it. It’s an intimate relationship you have with something or someone. Your spouse, your children, your pet. You could even put there your car, house, your job.
If you search the word your or in this case the Greek word hymon in the Bible, it occurs 807 times. Verses like:
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.
34 The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness.
Just in these verses alone do you get the impression that how we conduct ourselves and how we think matters a great deal to our Father? Then by connecting the words your and faith together makes it very personal. This seems self explanatory, but I think it goes much deeper than it would appear. The blind men’s eyes were healed according their faith. That verse would give the impression that we will recieved gifts from God according to our faith.
The world in general is coming to the point that they think they are deserving of gifts and opportunities just because they as people exist. God treats us like that to a certain extent doesn’t He. Matthew tells us
45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
The Bible also tells us that only the worthy will be offered a place with Jesus in heaven.
8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.
38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.
36 Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Faith is the connection between human weakness and divine power. If our faith is weak, then we won’t be able to receive the gifts that God wants so badly to bestow on us both individually and as a church. I’m not trying to judge the level of our faith, but I know I have definite room for improvement. My faith needs strengthening.
How do I or you strengthen our faith. If that statement “according to your faith” is true then I need all I can get to get me through what will come to pass. Our world is changing so quickly and there isn’t any time to loose in making sure we are prepared. So how do we strengthen our faith.
5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. 6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. 7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.
Faith comes from spending time with our God in prayer and in the scripture, our Bibles. Prayer is a big component of this.
6 But now Timothy has just returned, bringing us good news about your faith and love. He reports that you always remember our visit with joy and that you want to see us as much as we want to see you. 7 So we have been greatly encouraged in the midst of our troubles and suffering, dear brothers and sisters, because you have remained strong in your faith. 8 It gives us new life to know that you are standing firm in the Lord. 9 How we thank God for you! Because of you we have great joy as we enter God’s presence. 10 Night and day we pray earnestly for you, asking God to let us see you again to fill the gaps in your faith. 11 May God our Father and our Lord Jesus bring us to you very soon. 12 And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows. 13 May he, as a result, make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy as you stand before God our Father when our Lord Jesus comes again with all his holy people. Amen.
Paul was in a constant state of prayer for the people he was concerned about to build there faith. We can do that as well for ourselves. Night and day he said they prayed.
17 pray without ceasing,
That doesn’t mean constantly on your knees. It means a constant spirit of prayer, your mind and your thoughts connected with the Holy Spirit at all times. That’s definitely not easy. We live in a world of sin - constantly trying to grab away our attention and break that connection. Constantly we must give our will to God… our way to God’s way. By immersing our selves in God’s word and spending time in pray, we will actually be changed into the image Christ. You remember the verse about the mustard seed?
6 So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
I think that we, me included, expect to little of ourselves and because we expect to little we receive according to that faith. We need to ask the Lord to remove the old ways, the old us and have the Holy Spirit replace those ways with the faith that Jesus showed to His father.
42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”
E G White describes that kind of faith as a living faith, a faith that works by love and purifies the soul.
Your....
Your....
There’s one your that we haven’t talked about yet though. It is the most problematic thing that anyone of us will ever deal with. We talked about all those other good things that we enjoy. But this one is the most detrimental to salvation.
Self
Self
Self is the most destructive part of our characters. The devil uses this very skillfully to keep the level of the faith that we need and the Lord wants us to have, away. The Bible tells us
24 Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others.
1 You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. 2 For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. 3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. 4 They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. 5 They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that! 6 They are the kind who work their way into people’s homes and win the confidence of vulnerable women who are burdened with the guilt of sin and controlled by various desires.
The Holy Spirit will be able to do His work upon a remorseful heart, but He cannot accomplish His work on a self-important or self-righteous heart. The Holy Spirit works within us to build or faith and to make us suitable for God’s bounty. He can’t doing anything for us if we hang on to character traits not suitable for heaven. Christ accomplishes our salvation by inspiring faith in our hearts and a belief in truth.
Can God say to me, can He say to you, “according to your faith be it unto you?” Are we asking the Holy Spirit to build our faith daily? Are we spending the time it takes to connect with Jesus and see where He has lead in our lives, the gifts that he has given us?
If we want Jesus give us the same blessing he gave those blind men, then join with me today to finish the process of faith building. So Jesus can say to you and to me, According to your faith be it unto you.