WAKE UP AND STRENGTHEN YOUR FAITH

PROCLAMATION

“Wake up!  Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God.”  Revelation 3:2 (NIV)

 

EXPLANATION

These are the words of the New Testament Bible Book of Revelation, the book of prophecy, which was revealed to, and written by, the Apostle John, under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  In this third chapter John was told to write to the angel of the church in Sardis (Revelation 3:1-6), in Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7-13), and in Laodicea. (Revelation 3:14-20)  He was told to tell the pastor of each of these churches, and the church members, that God knows their good works and He also knows their shortcomings.  John was told to tell each of these churches what they needed to do in order to get back in God’s good graces.

 

APPLICATION

The Lord God knows our good deeds. (Revelation 3:1, 3:8, and 3:15)  He knows about our reputation and where we have slacked off. (Revelation 3:2)  He knows that we are weak. (Revelation 3:8)  He also knows that at times we are indecisive. (Revelation 3:15)  The Lord God wants us to wake up and get busy for we have work to do.  Our faith will die if we do not exercise it. (Revelation 3:2-3)  He has opened doors for us which no man can shut but we have to walk through the doors.  He will strengthen us as we need it to do His will. (Revelation 3:8)  God wants our full commitment to Him.  He will not tolerate lukewarm and indecisive people. (Revelation 3:15-16)  Those whom God loves, He will rebuke and discipline. (Revelation 3:19)  The Lord God wants to be within each of us.  He stands at the door to our heart and knocks, but He will only come in if we open the door for Him. (Revelation 3:20)  We have been warned.  He that has ears, let him hear what The Spirit of God says to the churches. (Revelation 3:22)

 

FAITH IN GOD MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY ACTION

PROCLAMATION

“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds?  Can such faith save them?  Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.  If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?  In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action is dead.”  James 2:14-17 (NIV)

 

EXPLANATION

These words were written by James, the half-brother of Jesus, The Christ, (Galatians 1:19) under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God, to the Jewish believers who were scattered after the crucifixion of Christ. (James 1:1)  He wrote to them to encourage them to keep the faith in the face of all types of trials. (James 1:2-4)  He told them that faith without works is dead and useless.  He said that a person is considered righteous by what he does and not by his faith alone. (James 2:24)  Then he said, “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” (James 2:26)

 

APPLICATION

It is not enough to believe that there is a God.  It is good to believe in God, but if you believe in Him and do not follow Him, obey His Word, and live by His teaching, then your belief has accomplished nothing.  The devil and his demons know and believe that there is a God, but they don’t follow Him. (James 2:19)  We must exercise our faith and put it to work.  It is by our deeds that we will be blessed. (James 1:25)  If all we do is say that we believe in Christ, but our actions do not go along with our words, then our words are not true.  If we profess to believe in Christ but continue to live in sin as we did before our profession without changing our lives, then our professed belief is basically counterfeit.  We are not saved by our works, (Ephesians 2:9-10) but our works demonstrate our salvation.  The indwelling of The Holy Spirit of God is evidenced by the fruit of The Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23)  Consider this, if someone says that they love you but never does anything to demonstrate or show that they love you, how real is that love to you?  Our actions speak louder than our words.

 

 

A DISPLAY OF GREAT FAITH

PROCLAMATION

“When Jesus had finished … He entered Capernaum.  There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die.  The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to Him, asking Him to come and heal his servant. … The centurion sent friends to say to Him: ‘Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have You come under my roof. … But say the word, and my servant will be healed. … When Jesus heard this, He was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following Him, He said, ‘I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.’  Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.”  Luke 7:1-10 (NIV)

 

EXPLANATION

These words are from the gospel, the good news regarding Jesus, The Christ, according to Luke, the physician.   After Jesus went down from the mountainside, (Luke 6:12-17) He spoke to His disciples and to those who followed Him. (Luke 6:20-49)  When He had finished speaking, He left there and entered Capernaum.  This is where He healed the servant of the centurion who had displayed such great faith in Him.  Afterwards He went to the town of Nain and raised the widow’s son from the dead. (Luke 7:11-17)  Then He told the disciples of John The Baptist to go and tell him what they had seen and heard. (Luke 7:18-35)  Later on, Jesus accepted an invitation to dinner in the home of one of the Pharisees.  While He was there a woman anointed His feet with perfume.  When the Pharisee, who had invited Him to dinner, saw this, he commented to Jesus that the woman was a sinner.  Jesus replied to him with The Parable of The Two Debtors. (Luke 7:36-50)

 

APPLICATION

On more than one occasion Jesus responded to His disciples, ‘O ye of little faith.’  The same can be said of believers today.  Without faith it is impossible to please Him. (Hebrews 11:16)  He said, if we had the faith which was the size of a mustard seed, we could speak and move mountains. (Matthew 17:20)  This centurion displayed such great faith in Jesus that it impressed Him. (Luke 7:9)  As believers, we are to walk by faith and not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)  We need to exercise our faith in order for it to grow.  The testing and trying of our faith produces perseverance. (James 1:3)  The Bible says, “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trials…” (James 1:12)  So, let us keep the faith, and exercise our faith, and pray for an increase in our faith which will allow us to please The Lord God even more.

MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO ADD TO YOUR FAITH

Proclamation:

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.  Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.  For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.  For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."  2 Peter 1:3-8 (NIV)

Explanation:

These are the words of the Apostle Peter, inspired by The Holy Spirit of God, to the believers in the early church to counter the false teachers who were infiltrating the church.  Peter told them that God had given them the power escape the corruption caused by evil desires and evil influences.  He told them that they must make every effort to exercise their faith.  By doing so, they would increase their faith and produce more fruit of The Spirit of God.

Application:

Today we need to realize that The Lord has blessed us and given us a small portion of His divine power.  We have The Holy Spirit of God dwelling within us, and that makes us capable of exhibiting the fruit of The Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)  As believers, we ought to exercise these traits and increase them within our lives and in our behavior.  As we exercise them, we become stronger in the faith and demonstrate more Christ-like behavior and thereby we become more effective and productive in our efforts for The Lord.

RIGHTEOUSNESS IS CREDITED TO US NOT EARNED BY US

Proclamation:

"Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.  This is why 'it was credited to him as righteousness.'  The words 'it was credited to him' were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness, for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.  He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification."  Romans 4:20-25 (NIV)

Explanation:

Under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God the Apostle Paul wrote these words in a letter to the believers in the church at Rome.  Paul used Abraham as an example to prove his point that we are justified by faith alone and not by works.  Abraham, the father of the faithful, was not a sin free man, but righteousness was credited to him because of his belief and his faith in God. (Genesis 15:6)

Application:
It is not our previous sins that get in the way of our being used by God, but it is our disbelief and our lack of faith, or our insufficient faith, that gets in the way.  Our righteousness is not something we earned or worked for, it is credited to us by God because of our belief and faith in Him.  Our faith is weak because we do not exercise it enough or very often.  We need to trust in God and step out on faith more often and let God use us as an example to others of what He can do for those who believe.

PUTTING OUR FAITH TO WORK

Proclamation:

“For The Son of Man is going to come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will reward each person according to what they have done.” Matthew 16:27 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were spoken by Jesus, The Christ, to His disciples as recorded by the Apostle Matthew under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  Jesus will come to earth again to execute judgement of mankind.  He will reward all believers according to their works and put to death all non-believers.

Application:

Having faith in Jesus Christ and believing in Him is a very good thing.  Our salvation is based upon our faith in Him.  Without faith it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:6)  However, we must act upon our faith.  We must exercise our faith and do something with it.  We know that as Christians, we walk by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7) and we know that we live by faith (Romans 1:17) but faith alone is not enough.  The Bible says, "... faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone." (James 2:17)  This is so important that it is stated twice, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." (James 2:26)  Just having faith alone is not enough.  We are justified by our works (James 2:24) and in the end we will be judged based upon our works, "... and they were judged every man according to their works." (Revelation 20:13)  As believers we are all responsible for kingdom building here on earth.  It is important for us to do something for the glory of God.  Let's put our faith to work!  Spread the good news, talk the talk and walk the walk.  Our good work will soon be rewarded.  "For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then He shall reward every man according to his works." (Matthew 16:27)

We Have Faith

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.  This is what the ancients were commended for."  Hebrews 11:1-2 (NIV)

The unknown author of the Book of Hebrews describes what faith is.  He states that it was because of their faith that the men of God, that were mentioned earlier in The Bible and listed later on, (Hebrews 11:5-32 by name and Hebrews 11:32-39 by what they endured) were commended for.

Faith in The Lord God is essential to the believer.  Without faith, it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:6)  We are taught to hold on to our faith through trying times. (Hebrews 10:23)  In fact, we are taught that the just shall live by faith. (Hebrews 10:38)  It was because of their faith that the patriarchs pleased God and received a good report. (Hebrews 11:2)  Our faith is demonstrated by our actions, faith without action is useless. (James 2:18, 2:20, and 2:28)  We must exercise our faith and put it to work. (James 1:3 and 2:22)  This is clearly a case when actions speak louder than words.  We are justified by exercising our faith during trials and tribulations because that leads to patience and hope in The Lord God. (Romans 5:1-5)

Make Every Effort To Add To Your Faith

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.  Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.  For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.  For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."  2 Peter 1:3-8 (NIV)

These are the words of the Apostle Peter, inspired by The Holy Spirit of God, to the believers in the early church to counter the false teachers who were infiltrating the church.  Peter told them that God had given them the power escape the corruption caused by evil desires and evil influences.  He told them that they must make every effort to exercise their faith.  By doing so, they would increase their faith and produce more fruit of The Spirit of God.

Today we need to realize that The Lord has blessed us and given us some of His divine power.  We have The Holy Spirit of God dwelling within us, and that makes us capable of exhibiting the fruit of The Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)  These traits which we have as believers, we ought to increase them within our lives and in our behavior.  As we exercise them, we become stronger in the faith, and thereby we become more effective and productive in our efforts for The Lord.

Increase Our Faith

"The apostles said to The LORD, 'Increase our faith!' "  Luke 17:5 (NIV) 

According to Luke, the physician and travelling companion of the Apostle Paul, after Jesus had spoken to His disciples about forgiveness and the number of times that they should forgive a transgressor, (Luke 17:3-4), they said to Him "Increase our faith."  The disciples recognized that they needed more faith and they asked The Lord to give them more of it. 

Some of the time God gives us what we ask Him for, and other times He puts in situations where we have an opportunity to demonstrate and develop that which we have asked Him for.  Those of us with very little faith, must exercise it and use it in order for it to grow and increase.  We can increase our faith by asking The Lord for it, and then believing and acting as if that which we asked for is already done. (Luke 17:5-10)  We need to ask in prayer, be obedient to His Word, praise The Lord, give Him glory, and give Him thanks for blessing us with that which we asked for. (Luke 17:12-19)  We need to be humble when we approach Him, knowing and believing that there is power in His Word. (Matthew 8:8)  We need to believe that His touch can change our life. (Matthew 9:20-22)  We need to demonstrate, practice, and exercise our faith when we are in trying circumstances and situations. (James 1:2-3)  We need to be obedient to The Word of God and do His will, for without faith it is impossible to please God, (Hebrews 11:6), but  faith without works to back it up is meaningless. (James 2:17-20 and  2:26)

We Have All We Need But We Need To Use It

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 1:3-8 (NIV)

Simon Peter, the Apostle of Christ, writing to the Gentile Christians in the area of Asia Minor directly, and to all Christians indirectly, to instruct them in how to defend themselves against the false teachers. The believer cannot be indifferent but must make maximum effort escape the dangers of sin and false doctrine. They must exercise their Christian characteristics to accomplish spiritual growth in order to be effective and productive in their Christian walk and work.

Good Christian behavior does not happen by accident, it requires a conscience effort. God has given us all that we need to do His will. However, we must choose to exercise these gifts, and make an active effort to behave in a Christ-like manner. According to John MacArthur, "We add to those by our diligent devotion to personal righteousness." Knowing what is right and not doing it, is a sin of omission.

Keep The Faith Fan The Flame

"I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." 2 Timothy 1:5-7 (NIV)

To encourage his young co-laborer, the Apostle Paul told Timothy that the true and sincere faith that was in his grandmother and in his mother, was also in him. Paul encouraged him to exercise his faith, to fan the flame, so that his gift from God would grow stronger. God did not mean for him to be weak, loving and full of self control, yes, but not weak.

Most of us received our early religious training from our mother and or grandmother. They were our example of faith, strength, and love. It was usually their strong faith in God that kept the family going. That capacity, which is a gift from God, was cultivated by them in each of us and it has been enhanced by life's lessons as we grew. Most of us have a little faith, but it is weak because we do not exercise it. We need to "fan the flame" so that our God given gift can grow stronger. With great faith comes the ability to do great things. We could move mountains if our faith was stronger. Jesus said, "... if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:20 NIV) Thank God, and your mother, and your grandmother, for what they gave you, but you must decide to use your gift.