Wednesday 18 July 2018

Faith as a Gift ~ Rabqa

Faith, as depicted in the New Testament, has various aspects. Although it’s essential nature always
agrees with the definition given in Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the [a]substance of things hoped for, the [b]evidence of things not seen. (NKJ), this nature express itself in a variety of distinct but related forms.


The three main ways of faith maybe defined as the following:
1. Faith as a gift.
2. Faith as a fruit
3. 3. Faith to live by.
The third form of faith is a continuing personal relationship that links the believer directly to God & affects every area of our life. It provides the motivation, the direction & the power for everything we do. It is, in fact both the sole & the sufficient ground for righteousness living. For this reason I call it
faith to live by. We will now look at the nature of faith as a gift.

I Corinthians 12:7-11 NLT A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice[a]; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge.[b] 9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages,[c] while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.

In verse 4-11 we learn that every believer-& that includes both you & me-has been given at least one spiritual gift, & usually more than one. If you do not know what your spirituals gifts are, pray for the Holy Spirit to reveal them to you. Inquire at your church about taking a class on spiritual gifts, or on the other hand seek information about a spiritual gifts test you can take. These tests often help people understand themselves & give them a release to begin functioning in their gifts. Thank the Holy Spirit for giving you the gifts He has chosen, & ask Him for wisdom in using them.


The Holy Spirit is dwelling in a believer, is invisible. But by these gifts operating through a believer, the presence of the Holy Spirit is made manifest to human senses. In each case, the result is produced in the realm of the senses; they can be seen, heard or felt.


Since the gifts are given by the Holy Spirit & not the believers own personality, all of them are supernatural in character. In every case, the results that they produce are on higher level than the believer could ever achieve by his own ability. Each result is possible only through a direct supernatural operation of the Holy Spirit. By these gifts & through the believer the Holy Spirit comes forth out of the invisible spiritual realm &makes impact upon the physical world of space & time.


Paul established two important practical points concerning these gifts. First they are distributed solely at the discretion of the Holy Spirit, according to His sovereign purpose for each believer’s ministry. Humans will or achievement is not the basis for receiving these spiritual gifts.
Second they are given to each one for the common good V7), for a useful practical purpose. AS Bob Munford said “The gifts of the Spirit are tools not toys.”


It has often been pointed out that these nine gifts fall naturally into three groups of three:

1. The gifts of utterance. These are gifts that operate through the believers vocal organs. They include prophecy, tongues & the interpretation of tongues.

2. The gifts of revelation. These are gifts that impart spiritual illumination. They include the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge & the discerning of spirit.

3. The gifts of power. These are gifts that demonstrate Gods supernatural power in the physical realm. They include faith, the gifts of healing & the working of miracles.

The gift of faith, which we will now look at, is the first of the three gifts of power. It is distinguished from the other forms of faith by the fact that it is a sovereign, supernatural manifestation of the Holy Spirit working through the believer. The two key words are sovereign & supernatural.


In Matthew 21 & Mark 11, we read that Jesus on His way to Jerusalem with His disciples came to a fig tree by the wayside. Jesus was seeking fruit. When He found that the tree contained only leaves, but no fruit, He pronounced a curse upon it, saying, May no one ever eat fruit from you again Mark 11:14 The next day as Jesus & His disciples passed the same tree, the disciple were astonished to see that within twenty four hours it had withered up from the roots up. Behold Peter said the fig tree which you cursed has withered (V21).


To Peters comment Jesus replied, Have faith in God (V22). This is how it has been translated in English. However, what Jesus actually said, in its most literal form, was, “Have God’s faith.” This statement highlights the special kind of faith we are speaking of here that is faith as a gift. Faith has its origin not in man, but in God. It is an aspect of God’s own eternal nature. Through the gift
of faith, the Holy Spirit imparts a portion of God’s own faith, directly & supernaturally, to the believer. This is faith on a divine level, as high mere human faith as heaven is above earth.


In saying. “Have God’s faith” Jesus challenged His disciples to receive & exercise this kind of faith, just as He Himself has done. He went on to tell them that with faith of this kind they would not only be able to do what they had seen Him do to the fig tree, but also they would be able to move a mountain by simply speaking Matthew 21:21 Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen.

Jesus was not merely speaking to the disciples when He said, “If you have faith,” for we see in Mark 11:23 that He used the word whoever, extending His promise to all believers. I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart.


Jesus set no limit to the scope of this kind of faith. The phrases He used are all inclusive: “Whosoever says...what he says...shall be granted to him.” There is no restriction concerning the person who speaks or the words spoken. All that matters is the nature of the faith; it must be God’s own faith.

In Luke 8:22-25, we see that, as Jesus & His disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee in a boat, they were suddenly overtaken by an unnaturally violent storm. The disciples woke Jesus who was asleep in the stern, saying, Master, Master we are perishing!” (Luke 8:24). The biblical record
continues, “& being aroused, He rebuked the wind & the surging waves, & they stopped, & it became calm” (Verse 24)


Obviously, the faith that Jesus exercised here was not on the human level. Normally, the winds & waters are not under mans control. But the moment of need, Jesus received a special impartation of His Father’s own faith. Then, by a word spoken with that faith, He accomplished what man would consider impossible: the instantaneous calming of the storm.


When the danger had passed, Jesus turned to His disciples & said “Where is your faith?” (verse25) In other words He asked, “Why couldn’t you have done that? Why did I have to do it?” He implied that it would have been just as easy for them to have calmed the storm as it had been for Him-If they had exercised the right kind of faith. But the moment of crisis the impact of the storm on the disciples’ senses had opened the way for fear to enter their hearts, thus excluding faith. Jesus on the other hand, had opened His heart to the Father & received from Him the supernatural gift of faith needed to deal with the storm.


Later Jesus confronted a storm of a different kind: a boy rolling around on the ground in an epileptic seizure & an agonised father imploring help. Jesus dealt with this storm as he had dealt with the storm on the Sea of Galilee. He spoke an authoritative word of faith that drove the evil spirit out of the boy. When the disciples asked Him why they had not been able to do this, He told them plainly, You don’t have enough faith. Matthew 17:20). Then He went on to say if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.[a]”

Here Jesus used a mustard seed as a measure of quantity. In Matthew 13:32, we are told that a mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants; it grows into a tree, and birds come and make nests in its branches.”

In other words, Jesus was telling us that it is not the quantity of the fruit that matters, but the quality. If a person has the right kind of faith in even the amount of a mustard seed, it is enough to move a mountain!


Near the climax of His earthly ministry, Jesus once more demonstrated the power of words spoken with the right kind of faith. Outside of the tomb of Lazarus, He cried out with a loud voice “Lazarus come forth” (John 11:43). This brief command, energised by supernatural faith, caused a man who was both dead & buried to come walking out of his tomb, alive & well.


The original pattern for supernatural faith is found in the act of creation itself. It was by faith in His own word that God brought the universe into being. Psalm 33:6, 9 The LORD merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born. For when he spoke, the world began! It appeared at his command.

In verse 6 we see that the heavens or universe did not evolve but were created by the Word of God. No scientific fact supports the evolutionary model of origins.


When the gift of faith is in operation, a man becomes for a time the channel of God’s own faith. The person who speaks is no longer important, but only the faith that is expressed. If it is God’s own faith at work, it is equally effective whether the words are spoken through God’s mouth or are uttered by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of a human believer. As long as a believer operated with this divine faith, his words are just as affected as if God had spoken them. It is the faith that matters not the person.

So we can see from what we have examined supernatural faith is expressed through a spoken word. By a spoken word Jesus caused the fig tree to wither. By a spoken word he calmed the sea, cast the evil spirit out of the epileptic boy, & called Lazarus out of the tomb. In Mark 11:23 Jesus said this about any word spoken in faith. “Whoever says...what he says...shall be granted him”.

Sometimes a spoken word in prayer becomes the channel for the gift of faith. In James 5:15 we are told that “the prayer of faith shall save [or restore] the sick (KJV). There is no room left for doubt about the effect of a prayer of faith. Its results are guaranteed. Prayer with God-given faith is irresistible. Neither sickness nor any othercondition that is contrary to God’s will can stand against it.


For example of someone who prayed “the prayer of faith, James referred to Elijah. By his prayer, Elijah withheld rain for three & a half years, & then caused the rain to fall again. (James 5:17-18). Scripture indicates that the giving & withholding rain is a divine prerogative, exercised by God Himself. We see in (Deuteronomy 11:13-17 & Jeremiah 5:14-22). Yet, for three & a half years, Elijah exercised this prerogative on God’s behalf. James emphasised that Elijah was “a man with a nature like ours” (James 5:17)-a human being just like the rest of us. But as long as he was enabled to pray with God’s faith, the words he uttered were effective as God’s own decrees.


However faith of this kind does not need to operate through a spoken word only. It was
just this same kind of supernatural faith that Jesus was able to walk on the stormy Sea of Galilee (Mathew 14:25-33). In this case, He did not need to speak; He merely walked out onto the water. Peter began to follow the example of Jesus & exercise the same kind of faith. This enabled him to do precisely the same thing as Jesus was doing. But when he looked away from Jesus to the waves, his faith deserted him, & he began to sink!


The comment that Jesus made is very illuminating: “O’ you of little faith, why did you doubt? (Matthew 14:31) Jesus did not reprove Peter for wanting to walk on the water. He reproved him for losing faith in the middle of doing so.


This supernatural kind of faith is given in a specific situation to meet a specific need. It remains under God’s direct control. It must remain so, for it is God’s own faith He gives
it or withholds it at his discretion. This kind of faith is included with all other supernatural gifts concerning which Paul said It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have. (1 Corinthians 12:11). The key phrase here is He alone decides.” God determines when & to whom He will impart each of the spiritual gifts. The initiative is with God, not with man.


This was even true in the ministry of Jesus. He did not curse every fruitless fig tree. He did not calm every storm. He did not call every dead person of the tome. He did not always walk on water. He was careful to leave initiative in the hands of His Father. In John 5:19 He said So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. Again Jesus said inJohn 14:10. Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me. The initiative was always with the Father.


We must learn to be as reverent & as careful in our relationship with the Father as Jesus was. The gift of faith is not ours to command. It is not intended to satisfy our personal whims or ambitions. It is made available at God’s discretion to accomplish ends that originate in God’s own eternal purposes. We cannot & must not, take the initiative from God. Even if God should permit us to do so, it would be ultimately be our own loss.


The gift of faith as we have seen is one of the nine gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:7-11). Each of these gifts is a supernatural manifestation of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in a believer & operates through him.


Through the gift of faith, the Holy Spirit temporarily imparts to a believer a portion of God’s own faith. This is faith on a divine level, far above the human level. A mustard seed of this kind of faith is sufficient to move a mountain.



Acknowledgements Derek Prince.


Over the next two weeks or so we will examine faith as a fruit & faith to live by.

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