Faith# 8
We’re going to continue teaching on the Cycle of Faith this week and we’re going to pick up where we left off last week. Believers need to operate in the full cycle of faith. If we don’t we may short circuit our faith from working. Last week we said that faith has eyes, it sees things a certain way. It also has a mouth, it says things a certain way. And it also has actions, it will act a certain way.
I. Faith will see the end result, before it can manifest in this natural realm.
A. God has designed His Word to create an image in your heart.
1. As you meditate on His Word, the Word will began to form an image in you heart
2. 1 important thing about faith is that faith sees the unseen.
a. We have all heard (Hebrews 11:1) which says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
II. The 2nd portion of the Cycle of Faith is that Faith will also Speak the Image.
A. (2 Corinthians 4:13) Says, “We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak.”
1. When you see the image inside you and believe it, you will speak it automatically.
2. Jesus said in (Mark 11:23) “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.”
B. Sometimes people say, “I just can’t make good confession.”
1. If that’s all you’re trying to do, you’re right.
a. You can’t cure the symptom without curing the cause.
i. Jesus said, in (Matthew 12:34) “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.”
ii. You can’t just change the symptom of what’s coming out of your mouth, you’ve got to change to thing that causing it. (The image that is in your heart.)
b. You can change your words, but you have to change the image in your heart 1st.
C. Many times’ people will try talking faith without having conceived an image in their spirit 1st.
1. They don’t see any results.
a. They say, “I’ve confessed that I’m healed, but I’m still sick.” “That faith confession stuff doesn’t work.”
b. They’re still sick because they didn’t conceive an image of being well, 1st.
2. (Proverbs 23:7) Says, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so [is] he.”
3. Confession is vital, but only part of the full cycle of faith.
a. You’ve got to change the image that is in your heart, and you do that by meditating on the Word of God.
b. You start by seeing things through the eye of faith.
c. See things the way that God says it is.
i. I’m not saying that you deny the problem.
ii. (Romans 4:17) Tell us to, “Calleth those things which be not as though they were.”
iii. (2 Corinthians 4:13) Says, “We believe, and therefore speak.”
d. Not only do you see it in your heart 1st and believe it; you need to speak what you believe. (Confess the Word of God.)
III. The 3rd thing you need to do is to act like as though you know it to be true.
A. Once you have begun to speak the image that is in your heart, you need to begin to act accordingly.
B. Peter saw himself getting out of the boat and walking on the water to come to Jesus.
1. He had to see himself doing it before he could even consider it.
2. Then he spoke it.
a. In (Matthew 14:28) Peter said, “Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.”
b. When Jesus said, “Come,” Peter began walking on the water.
c. Peter’s faith saw, spoke, and acted.
i. But Peter allowed the circumstances to change his image.
ii. When he got his eyes on the circumstances, on what his physical eyes could see, he began to sink.
C. When the circumstances are against you, you have to be bold with your actions.
1. In (LUKE 5:17-20) you see a man who was bed fast. His friends were so bold to get him to Jesus.
a. After they conceiving an image of getting their friend to Jesus, they made the journey, carrying him on a stretcher.
b. When they reached the building where Jesus was preaching, they found that it was full of people, and they couldn’t get in.
i. Instead of saying, “Sometimes that faith stuff doesn’t work; we tried our best, but can’t get in.”
ii. It says that they sought MEANS to bring him in.
c. They didn’t look at the circumstances, they SAW, SPOKE, then ACTED.
2. Those men were bold with their faith, they ripped of the roof to get their friend to Jesus.
a. In (V 20) it says, “And when he saw their faith.”
b. He saw their faith and their actions, and healed the man.
D. The action does not prove that you have faith.
1. But if you have that KNOWING on the inside that God is doing something in your life, you will act as boldly as needed to get your miracle.
a. But let me say this, Don’t think that just the action is going to get the job done.
i. Many people have done things, stop taking their medicine, or writing faith checks, quitting their jobs with the thought of God prospering them, without ever having that image on the inside, without truly believing it in their heart.
ii. God does want us to be healed and prosperous, but you’ve got to have the full cycle of faith.
iii. If you’re missing 1 link of the chain, you’re probably not going to see the results.
IV. Turn to (2 KINGS 5:1). I want to look at a few more examples from the Word of God of people acting in faith.
A. 2KINGS 5:1; 8-14
1. Naaman had leprosy, but the prophet Elisha sent for him.
a. Naaman believed that God was going to heal him.
b. Did you notice that Naaman went away mad?
i. I don’t know how long it was before Naaman finally went to the river Jordan, but he wasn’t healed until he acted in faith.
ii. It wasn’t until the 7th time that he dipped that his healing came.
iii. 1 thing that I thought was very interesting was that He didn’t pick the action that he was to do. It came from God through the prophet.
B. MARK 5:25-34
1. There were a number of things that she did here.
a. 1st she saw and believed that was would be healed as soon as she got to Jesus. (V 28)
i. We do the same thing when we pray.
ii. We’re coming to Jesus and from that point we are to believe that we have our needs met.
b. The 2nd thing that she did was to confess it with she mouth.
i. (Mark 5:28) “For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.”
ii. 1st she believed then she confessed what she believed.
c. The 3rd thing that she did was to act.
i. She was bold in her action.
ii. Because of the condition that she had, she had to separate herself from everyone else or she could be stoned. (LEV 15:19)
iii. Her actions were bold and she got healed.
C. (1 Peter 5:7) Says, “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”
1. This is 1 important area that we all need to remember if were going to walk in faith.
a. Casting all of our cares, worries and fears upon the Lord and leaving them with Him.
b. This is really an act of faith, and it might be the act of faith that is needed to get the job done.
D. Look at ACTS 19:6.
1. They had to put action to their faith.
a. That action was for them to speak. (They spake with tongues.)
2. We have a very similar thing in (ACTS 10:44-46)
a. Their action to their faith was to speak.
b. Sometimes all the action that we need is to speak or confess the Word.
3. Acts 3:6-8 (Peter and John, but Peter spoke.
E. Weather it’s walking around the wall of Jericho for 7 days, or Dipping in the river Jordan, or walking around the land to claim it (DEUT 11:24) or something much more simple like confessing it or casting your cares upon the Lord, the important thing is to do only what the Lord would have us to do.
D. We have to let faith take its full cycle.
1. Once you see an image, don’t let anything stop you.
a. Start speaking it, and then take action.
2. If there’s obstacles in your way or a problem that you’re facing, don’t give up.
a. Jesus will see your faith and meet your needs.
Faith# 8
WOLCC Sun Am 11/27/94 & Sunday 9/25/05