Bro Gary Weds PM 5/11/11

Bro Gary Weds PM 5/11/11

The building blocks of faith:  

The enemy is out to destroy our faith in God.  It is not faith alone that he wants to destroy; there are other things that work with faith.  In 1Corinthians 12 it says “Now abideth faith, hope, and charity these three but the greatest of these is charity.”

Matt 25:14 Jesus gave a story of a man traveling to a far country who gave talents to his servants, five talents to one, two to another, and one to the last.  A talent represents a balance, a weight, a coin, a sum of money, something to purchase something with or to get what is needed.  God gives to every man a measure of faith.  God has given us an opportunity not only to have faith in God, but to have growing faith and faith to have our faith increased.  

I came to God in my sin, not having faith for anything but salvation.  I came believing that if I confessed, I would be forgiven.  Since I came, I’ve had lots of needs.  For each, I had to have faith in God.  If a person has needs, he is not to be looked down on.  If he is humble, then he is in a good position to get those needs met.

Faith is such that if we use it, it will grow.  Children are blessed to have childlike faith.  They haven’t heard the many things that destroy faith; they haven’t fought unbelief.

Jesus asked the solemn question, “When I return, shall I find faith on the earth.”  I’m pretty alarmed at how people have allowed the devil to steal from them and literally leave them faithless.  If you know anyone that is faithless tonight, unless there is a miracle from God they are hopeless.  The enemy is always out to steal our faith.

Jesus was dealing with unbelieving Jews that were religious people.  We are bombarded continually with unbelieving religious people whether it is openly or otherwise.  They want you to know that they are as saved as you are or more so.

Joh 8:42  Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.

Joh 8:43  Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

Jesus was talking and they were resisting and not hearing what He said.

Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Joh 8:45  And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.

Joh 8:46  Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?

Joh 8:47  He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

We are going to do the desires of either our heavenly father of the enemy (whichever is our father.)

Verse 44 – the first death that ever took place was a spiritual death of Adam and Eve.  We know why that took place.  The enemy showed up and questioned God’s command.  He is a murderer from the beginning.  

We need to be thankful for every truth of God’s word.  This is what the enemy always attacks because he is a murderer.  He wants to destroy your spiritual life and destroy your devotions. He wants to plague your mind so that the amount of fellowship that you have is nothing compared to what God wants you to have.  

When we are working if our mind doesn’t have to be on the job we are doing, we want it to be fellowshipping God.  

When the enemy shows up whether he is twisting the scripture or not, he is not showing up to be a building block to our faith.  

Those that yield to rebellion will be full of death, not of the truth, and there will be no truth in them.

Every time the devil shows up he shows up as a liar.  

Heb 11:1  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Among the meanings of hope is expectation.  God wants you and I to have faith, hope, and expectation.  God doesn’t want us to have desires to Him and yet have no assurance that He is going to do anything.  

When we really hope for something it is more than a passive little, “Lord I’d like to see so and so get saved.”  How much do I hope they get saved?  You already know that if I say anything to them, I may be marked off their list forever.  We all know how people can cut you off just like that.  You can be as good to them as you can possibly be and they can turn around and say bad things about you.

There are going to have to be building blocks put into place in order for us to have expectation.  The elders had faith before I ever came on the scene.

Heb 11:2  For by it the elders obtained a good report.

Heb 11:3  Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

This is wiser than all the textbooks that unbelieving scientists have put together.  In Genesis it tells, “And God said.”  We talk about great big things, if you think of all the stars, it says in Genesis it says, “He made also the stars.”  God can do whatever He wants to.  That is how God is.  

Heb 11:4  By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

By faith we can worship God.  I have never seen God yet He is more real than anything I have ever seen.  He made these worlds, but there will come a time when these worlds are no more.  

Heb 11:5  By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

Translated means he was changed.  Sometimes we need a translation.  We need to get before God and let Him work a change in us.

Heb 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Three things listed about God is that He is omnipotent, all power.  He is omnipresent, He is everywhere.  We can pray here and God can work there.  A saint of God can be praying there and He work here.  He is omniscient.  He knows everything.

He is a rewarder to them that diligently seek Him.

Deut 32:4  He is a rock, his work is perfect.  

He knows how to go behind closed doors and go to those that have needs.  He knows how to come to us.

He is a God of all truth, without sin, He is just.  When you go to God in prayer, rest assured that He is a just God.  We serve a just God and right is He.

God has given us definite building blocks of faith and you and I need to use them and build with them.  Others may build a case against us, but there is another side to this, and that is believing God and trusting God.

Rom 12:3  For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

When it comes to having faith in God we need to think soberly.  You don’t have to mess with your faith very much and it will be gone.  If you let others mess with your faith it won’t be long and it is wavering.  

God has dealt to every man the measure of faith.