MORE ON FAITH!

"According to thy faith be it done unto you."--Mat.9:29. If you've got the faith for it, God will do it. And faith is not just hoping, believing or somewhat expecting, but faith is knowing.--ABSOLUTELY KNOWING!

Faith has lost its meaning to us today. Today the word faith means kind of a hazy vague belief of some kind in something or other; the word faith doesn't really mean much. It meant more than that in God's Word. But it doesn't mean much today to most Christians. It is the substance, it is the hupostasis, it is the title deed!

About that word translated "substance" in the 11th Chapter of Hebrews: When they translated the New Testament from the Greek nearly 400 years ago they were still puzzled by the word "hupostasis". Now they knew from the way this word "hupostasis" was used in some Greek literature and so on that it apparently was something fairly substantial, pretty sure, some very sure evidence of some kind, so they translated it "substance".

But just a few years ago archaeologists uncovered the burned ruins of an old inn in Northern Israel. There they found a small iron chest containing apparently the valuable papers of some Roman noblewoman who had been travelling in Israel at that time. In this little chest they found most of the papers labelled with a big title "HUPOSTASIS" at the top of almost every paper. The business of the day was done in Greek because this was the worldwide language of business and culture, even though the Romans were ruling the World.

All of these papers which had the title "Hupostasis" in big letters across the top were, guess what?--TITLE DEEDS to her properties! But this was long after the King James was translated, so they didn't have the advantage of that discovery.

If you want to turn to Hebrews the 11th Chapter, the word "substance" there is just as good and conveys the message and I am quite sure it's sufficient, but if you want to make it even clearer and more explicityou can write above that word "substance", in parentheses, "title deed". Now faith is what?--THE TITLE DEED!

In fact, you could put it this way: "Now faith is the title deed to things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen". This Roman woman perhaps had never seen her properties she'd bought in Israel, but she knew she had'm and she could prove her ownership even though she had never seen them.

If you've got real faith, even though you haven't seen the answer yet, you've got the title deed to it! It's YOURS; your name's written on it and you will see it eventually--that's faith! You know you've got the title in your hands. Praise God! It's done!

Real faith knows and it happens: It never fails! But sometimes, I want to warn you, some people throw away their glasses because of PRIDE, not faith. They're ashamed to confess that they don't have the faith for healing but they want to try to prove that they have; so even though they haven't got the faith for God to really heal them, they stomp on their glasses or throw them in an ocean. I'm sorry to say that we've got several folks in our Revolution who are still going around almost as blind as a bat because they threw away their glasses before they had the faith for healing.

I want to warn you right now you'd better have the faith yourself.--God's going to EXPECT it of you as REAL REVOLUTIONARIES for Jesus and you're not going to be able to lean on somebody else's faith. Since you're going to be a leader and a teacher and an officer in this outfit, and you're going to be able to instruct many, you're going to have to know how to do it yourself--and if you haven't got it then you're not going to be any leader. So don't expect somebody else to have it for you.

Don't do it because somebody tells you to and you're acting according to THEIR faith.--That's one thing you can't do! You gotta have the faith for it YOURSELF, unless you're such a babe that you just don't know anything and can't do anything and it's an emergency situation. Sometimes God will give them vicarious faith, and in that case, strangely enough, it would be like faith in you--they just have faith in you.

Salvation is a Gift, the Holy Spirit's a gift, but HEALING, though it's a gift, you have to EARN it through OBEDIENCE . You can't earn it, but you've got to be WORTHY of it. If you want to keep it you'd better obey--like a loan, like living on borrowed time: When you're healed you'd better stay close to the Lord and do the things that He healed you for.

You'd better use that strength that God gives you in healing for His glory , or He can take it away from you. This is not so with Salvation or the Holy Spirit--those are a gift, a pure gift. I don't know whether I should put it that way, because I've had a lot of healings I didn't deserve.--But it's almost as though you have to be worthy or earn it or obey to get it. Healing is a little extra bonus from the Lord; it's a little extra blessing, kind of like finances.--If you think you can just live as you please and get God to support you, you're mistaken!

You'd better obey the Lord and stay in the centre of His Will and do what God wants you to do--if you expect to live by faith and expect God to take care of you, do you understand?

God can do miracles! He expects you to do what you can do, but God helps those who cannot help themselves. He's not going to feed you or wash your face for you, shove food in your mouth and brush your teeth, roll away the stone, but He'll heal you and He'll supply the food.--But He'll usually let you cook it.

God can do anything if you trust Him, if you're obedient. Now here's the connection between obedience and faith: It's pretty hard to have faith if you're disobedient.--In fact, it's virtually impossible to believe God for anything if you're disobedient. But if you know you're doing your best to please Him and obey Him, you can expect almost anything. God will do almost anything for you, some of the most amazing things you could possibly imagine! I could tell you some things you probably wouldn't even believe that God has done for me--just because I love Him and am trying my best to please Him, obey Him and do the job.

He's done some things for me that you probably wouldn't even approve of. My Dad used to say to my Mother, "You're the Lord's spoiled child; He pampers you!" Because she really loved the Lord and she did everything, made all kinds of sacrifices, was in touch with the Lord and really served the Lord and really obeyed Him. So He gave her anything she wanted, anything she asked the Lord for, her heart's desire. I told you about the time she stuck a quarter in the slot machine and got the jackpot. In my case, maybe I wanted to see this or that, or go some place or have some thing that maybe you might have thought was a luxury or a little unnecessary.

But maybe after you've served the Lord as many years as I have He might even supply a few things exceedingly abundant above all you could ask or think, pressed down, shaken together and running over--MORE than you need, little luxuries, comforts.--Eph.3:20; Luk.6:38.

Come on, let's face it!--You've got stuff right now you don't really need. The Lord was good to you and gave it to you because you pleased Him. In the contract He only promised us food and clothing.--He only guaranteed food and clothing, all your needs according to His riches in Glory. You're only guaranteed your needs, but if you please Him He usually throws in a few little odds and ends with it just to keep you happy.

Now a father of a home is obligated to support his family and supply their needs and give them food, clothing and shelter--the Law will even get after him if he doesn't. But if he really loves his children and they really please him and obey him, he will often come home and bring them the little EXTRAS, a little extra gift and toys and extra presents.

The stage you're in right now is probably going to be the rock-bottom stage because first of all He sees what you're going to do with a nickel before He starts giving you quarters or half-dollars or dollars or maybe a hundred or even a thousand. He wants to see if He can trust you with nothing before He gives you something. If you're FAITHFUL in a few things He'll make you ruler over many. The Lord's going to wait to see if He can trust you with the necessities before He trusts you with any luxuries.

Now some people have grandiose ideas of how God's supposed to supply their needs: They think they ought to be rolling around in the very best and have the finest and the best-looking and the most expensive and so on. "Nothing is too good for God's servant." I agree that nothing is too good for you, but it might NOT be good for you. It might minister to your pride instead of your humility.

God has ways of doing things that aren't always our way. There are certain people hung up on certain doctrines of affluence--that no Christian should be poor, that no Christian should be afflicted, no Christian should be sick, should ever be unpopular, that you should have perfect wealth, perfect health and perfect popularity if you're a Christian.

For some reason or other I don't seem to find that in here about the Apostle Paul. Somehow or another Jesus didn't seem to quite fit that pattern, or His dirty, bare-footed, long-robed, long-haired, long-bearded, hippie disciples; and I figure if Paul hadn't quite made that affluent society, why, I sure don't rate it! Although I must say I think the Lord sometimes is a bit better to us than He was to the poor Apostle Paul--maybe that's why he'll probably get more glory and reward.

God will give you what you ask for; He's very definite. Be definite with the Lord! He says, "COMMAND thou Me".--Isa.45:11. He'll give you what you ASK for, and certainly what you have the FAITH for! That's the way the Lord blesses if you trust Him, if you please Him, if you follow Him, if you obey Him, if you're doing what He wants you to do and getting the work accomplished that He wants you to accomplish.

But watch out!--Sometimes material blessings can be a snare and a little trap of the Devil, and the Devil can heap them on you if you just kind of compromise a little here or there.

Watch out about compromise! Watch out about any compromise or pulling your punches for advantage, for finances, for protection, for safety, for anything. BE FAITHFUL to the message; be faithful to the method; be faithful to the Word; be faithful to the Voice of God; be faithful to His Revolution, the particular ministry He's called you to--BE LOYAL! Of all the requirements required of anybody in anybody's army, it's what?--LOYALTY! Someone may not be the best officer in the World; he may not have the qualifications that somebody else has; but if he's loyal you can trust him!

Loyalty is the prime requirement. I don't care how gifted, how talented, how artistic, how cultured, how beautiful, how strong, how educated you are; I don't care what you've got; if you're not 100% loyal, God can't use you--He can't trust you! If He can't trust you with what He's given you, He can't use you.--It's got to belong 100% to God or He can't use you.

So I'd rather have the little squirt that's got little or nothing but he's always Johnnie-on-the-job. When you want help, he jumps when you snap your fingers and he does what he's told to do even if he doesn't understand it or why, he just does it because you said so and he's got faith in you and he's got loyalty and he's obedient. The big guy thinks he knows everything and he's a little smarter than you are and, well, you don't necessarily have to do it that way.

These little things are very important to the Lord, how you handle the small things. "Despise not the day of small things", the Bible says.--Zech.4:10. It's important that you be faithful in a few things. You say, "Oh, I can't stoop to washing dishes and floors and mopping and cooking and things.--I want a BIG job!" Let me tell you right now, THAT'S a big job, and this army couldn't do without it, and nobody's too good for it! The people who are going to get bigger jobs are the ones that we find can be trusted with sweeping the floor properly or washing the dishes or running an errand. We're not going to give you big things to do until we find out you can be trusted to do the little things.

I want to tell you right now, we're having a problem with a certain situation of somebody that didn't work their way up from the ranks from scratch, and now the weaknesses are beginning to show up. They didn't start at the bottom and finish the course and get knocked around and TRIED and PROVEN first; they started at the top and now that weakness is showing itself. They weren't thoroughly indoctrinated, they weren't thoroughly brainwashed. They weren't tried and proven and tested as to their loyalty to the message and the methods of the Revolution, and now we're feeling it. So you see, God's method is best: Start from the bottom. Here's an old saying for you that's very true; this is Scriptural if not Scripture.

"God's way up is down." There's a lot of Scripture about "the first shall be last, the last shall be first", "humble thyself under the mighty hand of God and in due time thou shalt be highly exalted".--Mat.20:16; 1Pet.5:6. Proverbs 15:33 and a lot of Scriptures talk about being humbled before God exalts you. You have to be broken! God's way up is down! The best place to start is at the bottom!

Just remember: "Faith is the title deed to things hoped for, the EVIDENCE of things NOT seen!"--Hebrews 11:1--And "WITHOUT faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God!"--Hebrews 11:6. So don't think you can get away with NOT having it! Jesus said, "O ye of little faith! Wherefore dost thou doubt?"--Mt.14:31.

So how do you GET such faith? "FAITH COMETH by HEARING the WORD of GOD!"--Romans 10:17.--HEAR and READ the WORD!--The FUTURE is as BRIGHT as the PROMISES of GOD!

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family International

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