Faith's Divine Order #4a
Were going to pick up where we left off last week with our teaching on “the divine order of faith.” So far we’ve covered step 1 which was to “IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM.” STEP 2 was to “MAKE A DECISION TO STAND IN FAITH.” Step No. 3 was to “GET THE EVIDENCE FROM GOD’S WORD,” and that’s what we’re going to finish up on today and move on to step 4.
I) 1st of all turn with me to HEB 11:1
A) Paul very clearly tells us in this V that “FAITH is the EVIDENCE.”
1) But as we have seen from last week FAITH IS ONLY BASED ON THE WORD OF GOD; so you could say it this way, “Believing what the Word says is your Evidence that God’s promises belongs to you.”
II) Turn with me to 1 JOHN 5:14,15
A) In (verse 15) if we read over it to quickly we’ll miss a very important point on the subject of faith. Notice that he says here at the end of (verse 15), “We know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him.”
1) This is one of the main keys to Faith, “We know that we have.” It’s all in the present tense.
a) We know that we have it as soon as we pray before we see it.
2) But there is something else is very important in (verse 15) listen to what he says, “If we ask according to His will.”
a) The only things that we can know that we have when we ask are things that are in accordance to His Word or in line with His will. God’s Word is God’s will for your life.
b) If you can see it in your Bible, you can know that that is the expressed perfect will of God for your life.
3) If you’re new to the Bible you have to get into it and start reading it. The place I tell people to begin is in the book of John and read it all way through.
a) You have to find the promises of God for yourself, if you can afford it, get a concordance, or one of those small books entitled “Gods Promises” to help you along the way.
b) Go to the Word of God and find a verse that promises the answer to your need.
(i) That promise is your evidence that the answer is yours. You could say it’s your TITLE DEED.
(ii) If I were to show you the TITLE DEED to my house you would know that there is a house at that location.
(iii) The Word is your TITLE DEED. It’s your assurance that what the Word says is yours.
c) Once you’ve found the title deed in Gods Word, you should pray and consider the matter settled. In fact, you should start acting as if you possess the thing you’ve prayed for, because you do!
B) You can’t dabble in the Word and expect to get results. You can’t just try it out for a while to see if it will work.
1) Effective faith is a commitment to live by the Word; it’s a lifestyle. The Bible says the just shall live by faith.
2) Once you’ve found your title deed, the promise of God, hold on to it and don’t let it go.
a) At first it may seem like nothing is happening. Sometimes things even get worse. No matter what happens, don’t let go of your evidence.
C) Turn with me to Hebrews 10:35
1) I don’t care how hard things get or how bad your situation appears, hold on to your title Deed, which is, the promise of God. God will come through.
a) If you’re sick, get the evidence of healing from God’s Word. If you’re lacking finances, get your evidence. In bondage to habits, get your evidence. Depressed, get your evidence.
(i) No matter what you’re facing today, there’s a promise in the God’s Word that addresses your need.
b) Find it, and let’s go on to the next step.
2) So far, I’ve giving you the first three steps of God’s divine order of faith. They are; (1) Identify the problem, (2) Make a quality decision to overcome the problem, and (3) Find your title deed, the answer in God’s Word.
III) The next step in getting victory involves understanding the importance of “HEARING God’s Word.”
A) Hearing God’s Word is so vitally important to your spiritual life.
1) Your ears are one of the only two natural gateways to your spirit. Your eyes are the other.
a) But as far as the Word of God is concerned, there is no receiving without hearing.
(i) Jesus illustrated to us just how serious it is to hear God’s Word. In the book of revelation, (chapters 2 and 3), Jesus said seven times, “He that hath and ear, let him here with the spirit saith unto the churches.”
(a) I think that shows us pretty clearly that Jesus places a great deal of importance on us hearing what he has to say.
2) Many can hear the Word being preached, but the Bible kind of hearing involves more than just mere listening. It requires attentiveness, belief, and obedience, too.
B) Turn to Proverbs 4:10
1) Notice how the promise of long life, the good life is for those who both hear and receive God’s saying.
a) Actually, the Word “HERE” means “hear and obey.” ἀκούω ( akouō )
(i) If you’re not determined to obey what God has spoken, you haven’t really received it. James tells us to be: “doers of the Word and not hearers only.”
b) But notice that in this Verse (Pro 4:10), the result of hearing and receiving is long live.
(i) The end result to you hearing and receiving means a harvest.
C) Turn with me to Proverbs 8:34
1) The Word “blessed” means “receiving God’s best.” Receiving God’s best comes by hearing his Word.
a) Hearing God’s Word opens the door for victory.
b) You control the circumstances instead of your circumstances controlling you. Hearing God’s Word gives you that kind of power.
2) But on the other hand, if you’re listening to the doctor’s negative reports and all the negativity of people around you, saying things like you’re going to die, you had better get your affairs in order. You’re not empowered to do anything.
a) You need to be careful about what you permit yourself to hear. Whatever you hear goes inside you.
(i) “Oh, but pastor, I just let that stuff go in one ear and out the other.” There’s no such thing.
(ii) Have you ever listened to a song and that song stays with you all day, even if it’s an ungodly song. Sometimes it takes hours for you to get rid of it.
(iii) You simply have to guard your ears.
(a) Sometimes you’re at work and people say things or the music is being played and you can’t get away from it. What do you do to keep from hearing it? You might not be able to get away form it.
(b) But the best thing you can do is to rebuke that under your breath and speak the Word.
b) One of the most frequently cited Vs. of scripture concerning faith is found in Romans chapter 10, but I want to look at the whole thing in context. Turn with me to Romans 10:14-17
(i) “Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.”
(a) We’ve heard this said so many times, it’s almost become a cliche.
c) But (V 14) introduces a very important spiritual truth. It says they can’t believe in Him of whom they have never heard.
d) You can’t believe in or ask for something that you never heard preached. That shows us the importance of hearing God’s Word.
(i) But on the other hand, you just don’t want to hear any old thing. (Proverbs 4:23) says, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
(ii) The NIV translation says, “Above all else, guard your heart.”
e) If you’re still there in (Romans 10) look with me one more time to verse 17. Romans 10:17
(i) If your sick and need faith to get healed, Faith comes by hearing the Word of God concerning healing.
(a) It does you no good to hear the Word concerning finances if you have cancer.
(ii) Faith for what you need comes by hearing and acting on the Word for that specific area. (Whatever promise you hear that is what you’ll have faith for.
D) It’s also important understand that faith doesn’t come from having heard. It comes from “HEARING”--- present tense.
1) Sometimes people think just because they have heard “by His stripes you were healed” that they have the faith today to be healed. But it doesn’t work that way.
a) Just because you put gas in your car last month doesn’t mean you have fuel to get you where you need to go. Just because you ate something yesterday doesn’t mean you have nourishment for today.
(i) The same is true with the Word of God. You need a fresh hearing to receive faith for today’s needs.
b) Receiving faith is not a onetime event; it is a life process that we do over and over again.
(i) You can’t win your battle on the shells you fired in the last war. When the enemy comes at you again, it’s time to re-load. Reloading the gun of faith only comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.
IV) Not only is it vitally important that hear the Word when your facing it problem, but it’s also important how you hear.
A) The way you hear can make an enormous difference in the results you see.
1) Turn to MARK 4:24 and listen to what Jesus said.
2) The actual Greek work here is belpo (bel po)which litteraly means “TO look at”. It has to do with intellectual or spiritual perception, and in the absolute for insighT.
a) First of all Jesus is giving us a warning again to “Take heed WHAT you hear.”
(i) If your believing God for healing you do not want people sitting around your bed telling you how bad you look. Sometimes it’s better not telling anyone that you’re sick. Don’t tell people who are not going to pray and believe God with you.
b) But notice something else Jesus said in this Verse, “with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given.”
B) Jesus is telling us here the way you hear the Word and the importance that you put on the Word of God, is going to cause more of God’s blessings to come to you.
1) We need to take heed to how we hear the Word of God and to give it more diligence.
2) There is no way to over emphasize the importance of hearing, and hearing, and hearing the Word of God.
a) There are few things in your Christian walk that will benefit you as much as the Word of God.
(i) If your going through something in your life go to the Word of God and find a promise that correctly answers the problem. Then hear it, here it, and hear it some more.
(a) The Word of God is powerful and it’s an absolutely necessary step in God’s plan from getting you out of the problem to the answer.
Word of Life Christian Church Sunday 10/26/1997 Word of Life Sunday, January 12, 2003