Reference: Hebrews 11:1
As we read the eleventh chapter of the book of Hebrews, we find many instances where faith is the main factorthat brought to pass many great and outstanding feats performed by men andwomen of God. Verse two of thischapter tells us thatit was through faith that the elders obtained a good report meaning of coursethat these people of God believed that God would do exactly what he said hewould when his word was revealed to them.
Faith is believing that God will do whathe says he will do. We are told that all things are possible to him thatbelieves. Now this does not just mean that some things are possible, but ratherit simply means that anything is possible if we believe from the heart thatwhatever we say or believe will come to pass. Jesus said that if we believefrom the heart that whatever we ask for will come to pass, then we can havewhatsoever we say. (Mark 11:23)
Now according to this verse of God's word,we can have anything we desire "if" we believe from our heartwithout any doubt whatsoever that what we ask for will come to pass. This is avery wonderful statement to make, but we must realize that believing thisrequires a very strong belief. If we doubt in the very least, then weabsolutely will not receive what we ask for. The apostle James tells us that wemust ask in faith and not to doubt at all if we expect to receive anything fromGod. To doubt means that we would waver in our faith. James said we would notreceive anything if we wavered in our faith. There are reasons as to why aperson will waver in their faith and these reasons are simply because they arenot obeying God's word of the gospel. We are told that it's through Christ thatwe have faith in God, but very few people understand just exactly what thismeans. Through Christ does not just simply mean that we can have faith in God andexpect to receive things from him by just acknowledging the simple fact thatChrist is our Saviour and that he died for us etc.
In order to have strong faith then weabsolutely must receive and obey the revealed word of God. We are told thatfaith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God, but very few people canunderstand the fact that to hear the word of God is more than just hearing whathis word says. To hear the word of God is actually hearing his word ofinstruction. We are told in Paul's epistle of IITimothy 3:16-17 that allscripture is given by inspiration of God to instruct us in righteousness sothat the man of God may be perfect and throughly furnished unto all good works.
God's word of the Bible are not just wordssaying that we can have anything we want by just simply asking whatever wedesire to have. Many people today are thinking that just asking is all that isnecessary, but just saying that you believe the Bible is God's inspired word isnot sufficient enough to being able to receive things from God by faith.
There are many people who say that theybelieve in God and that he can do all things, but believing in God andbelieving that he will give you what you ask for is very much two differentthings altogether. God's word tells us in Hebrews11:6 that those who come to him mustbelieve that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.Very few peole are realizing that we must seek diligently for God and not justsaying that you believe in him and believe that he can do all things. We mustfirst seek for God's kingdom and his righteousenss as Jesus said in Matthew 6:33. Millions ofpeople today are being deceived from the truth concerning seeking for God'srighteousness. God's righteousness is revealed in the gospel of Christ as Paulstates in Romans 1:16-17. Most people today have been led to believe that they wereimputed God's righteousness when they confessed belief on Christ and acceptedhim as their own personal Lord and Saviour, but we are imputed hisrighteousness as we continue on in God's word of the gospel and obey it as wewalk in the light of it.
God's righteousness that is revealed inthe gospel is the revealing of Christ in us by the Holy Spirit in a dailyprocess. Christ is being perfected in us as we walk in the light of the truthrevealed in the gospel. Our faith is strengthened as we walk in and receive thetruth of God's word. God's word of truth renews the mind and crucifies thelusts and desires of the flesh and this operation increases our faith byremoving all doubts and fears from within us.
Anyone who has fear within their heartcannot possible have strong faith in God and what his word says and reveals.God's word of truth miraculously transforms our life into the very image ofChrist. This coming to the fulness of Christ also brings us to the unity of thefaith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, as so statedin Ephesians 4:13-14.
The purpose of the gospel is not justthinking that we can have whatever we ask for by just believing the scripturesthat point to his promise such as those that refer to God's power to heal andhis power to work miracles etc. There are many people in the world today whocan only see the written promises of God that only deal in the realm of God's working power to do miracles and skipover the main thrust of the gospel that leads and instructs us in allrighteousness unto perfection.
Millions of people are being deceived bythe many false prophets who only proclaim what God's word says about God'sworking power to perform miracles and say hardly nothing about true Bibleholiness and godliness. These false prophets are living in the realm of thestrong delusions that God has sent them and they are actually believing liesthinking that they are manifesting the great miracle working power of God.
The apostle Paul tells us about theworking of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. There are millionsof people today who are believing these miracle workers today not realizingthat their miracles are the lying signs and wonders referred to in God's wordof the Bible.
A lying sign and wonder as Paul speaks ofare the very things that today's Charismatic movements are manifesting today.The tongues are not the evidence of the Holy Ghost baptism and all the othersupposedly manifested miracles within these movements are not what God istrying to do among the true people who are obeying his word. The book ofRevelations plainly reveals the fact that it's the false prophet that uses therealm of working miracles to deceive the entire world causing them to receivethe mark of the beast and to worship his image. (Revelations19:20)
The word of God absolutely does not teachthat the speaking in tongues is the initial evidence of the Holy Ghost baptism.This is one of the lying signs spoken of in God's word. The tongues have theirpurpose, but not as being the evidence of a person being baptized with the HolyGhost. We are told that the just shall live by faith, but the subject of faithitself is not being taught in today's religious world like the Bible reveals itto be. Paul said that many have made shipwreck concerning faith, meaning thatmany do not truly understand what it is and how it's the main factor in thelife of the true born again child of God. True genuine faith is very scarce inthe world today. Faith is taught today as just being a belief in Christ and to accept him as Lord andSaviour. This is as far as their faith can go not being able to be strengthenedbecause they are not being taught the deeper truths....