CHAPTER FOUR

Romans 10:17: "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." This means that we can have a ready response to God when we hear His Word. That may be simply an inward agreeing with the Word, or it may be some action that the Scripture requires. Let us consider two passages of Scripture that I trust will illustrate what I mean by "response to God's Word". We should also see how important our responses are to God.

If we do not pay attention to His dealings with us, God will often permit us to go our "own way" about things, much to our loss. That is not His perfect will, but He will respect our "right" to choose to obey or to disobey.

1 Samuel 3:1-11: "And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli (the high priest of Israel). And the Word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision. And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see, and ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep; that the Lord called Samuel: and he answered, here am I. And he ran to Eli, and said, Here am I; for you called me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down. And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, here am I, for you did call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed to him.

And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for you did call me. And Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if He call you, that you shall say, Speak, Lord; for your servant hears.

So Samuel went and lay down in his place. And the Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak, for thy servant hears. And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold...".

The Scripture says that the Lord called Samuel. Samuel heard the Lord, but mistakenly thought that it was Eli calling him. He gave no response to the Lord, but went instead to Eli. The Lord did not give further information to Samuel until he finally RESPONDED to Him.

God spoke directly, in Person, to Samuel. But he, naturally, MISUNDERSTOOD. So we too, must RECOGNIZE and UNDERSTAND and GRASP the MEANING of God's Word. Samuel MISSED God's dealings with him, until he was taught how to respond. If we do not RIGHTLY DIVIDE God's Word (2 Timothy 2:15), WE CAN MISS GOD ALSO! It is of paramount importance for us to rightly divide God's Word when He speaks to us, either by the written word, or by the Holy Spirit within us.

Notice that when God spoke to Samuel, FAITH CAME to him (Romans 10:17). But even with faith AVAILABLE, Samuel did not respond to God, because he did not know how! (Today, some people read or hear the Scripture, but have no idea of HOW to apply what it says.) So the Lord did not continue His message to Samuel at that time. Why did it work that way? The Bible tells us in verse seven: "Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the Word of the Lord revealed to him." That is why. Samuel had no idea that it was anyone but Eli calling him. There was no other person there, it "had to be Eli." But it wasn't Eli, it was the LORD calling him. Thus, we can see that to misunderstand is a very natural human trait.

As always, FAITH and BELIEVING were required for Samuel to RESPOND to God. When Eli told him HOW to respond, and he did it, God revealed His message to Samuel. From then on, Samuel never again "missed it". God lists his name in the Biblical Hall of fame, in Hebrews 11:32.

The other Scripture that we will consider is Matthew 14:25-31. "And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them (His disciples, who were in a boat on the sea of Galilee), walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, it is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. But straightway, Jesus spoke to them, saying, Be of good cheer, it is I; be not afraid. And Peter answered Him and said, Lord, if it be you, bid me come to you on the water. And He said, come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand, and caught him, saying unto him. O you of little faith, wherefore did you doubt?"

Surely, Peter was exercising the power of supernatural faith, but even so, he let doubt cause even that to fail!

CIRCUMSTANCES gave rise to fear in Peter. DOUBT then hindered his FAITH, and he began to sink. So we should see that though a believer has faith in his heart, circumstantial DOUBT can hinder his faith. IF it does, he will be unable to complete a faith act. Peter could not, in the direct Presence of Jesus Christ. Peter's priviledge of walking on the water was a one time opportunity, never available like that again in this world. He lost it by doubting.

Matthew 21:21-22 says: "Jesus answered and said to them, Verily, I say unto you, if you have faith, and DOUBT NOT, you shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if you shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, BELIEVING, you shall receive". Belief is ALWAYS the correct response to God's Word.

It is vitally important for us to receive God's Word. This means to believe it, and correctly respond to it. It is given first in the written form, and secondly in the spoken form. The two forms completely agree. The FACTS provided in it by promises must be obtained by faith. God's divine integrity gives us ASSURANCE to ACT accordingly, thereby to gain His provisions. According to Hebrews 11:33 some people obtained promises. According to Romans 15:4 they were written for our learning that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.

We need to learn how to receive what God has promised. That means more than learning WHAT God has promised. It means learning how to ACTIVATE His promises by faith. Remember that according to Ephesians 2:9, faith is a GIFT of God. It is given on the basis of UNDESERVED, UNEARNED, DIVINE FAVOR. That is the first of the two major aspects of Divine grace. The other aspect is that of God's Holy influence on the human heart.

Also, as noted previously, God has given to every man (believers) the measure of faith. Men who are outside of the Kingdom of God, unsaved people, have no such measure of faith. See 2 Thessalonians 3:2.

Also, let it be known that faith is not to be confused with human WILL POWER. A certain measure of will power IS needed to use, and to sustain the use of faith. But will power is NOT faith. The urgency of our requests to God is not faith. The NEEDS that we have are not faith. Hebrews 11:1 says that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Such faith rises out of what God has said and done for us in Christ. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is God's written record of those things. Their substance and their evidence, in the form of faith, comes to us, when we hear the Gospel. We begin to realize the FACTS, and their substance and their evidence begins to ASSURE us, giving us CONFIDENCE in their REALITY. They actually exist! They are SO to us because God's Word SAYS that they are! Our desire to possess them, and our need of them is thus satisfied in our heart and mind. Rejoicing, gladness and praise to God is nearly an automatic result.

Such response in our heart prompts us to ACT according to the Divine facts of the Gospel. Such action is what the Bible calls BELIEF. The Gospel is God's power to CAUSE that response in our heart. When it does, to be saved, for example, Romans 10:9 is the ONLY part that we must supply in order to become saved. We must supply Romans 10:9 to the Lord, thus authorizing Him to execute the new birth in us. Jesus DID the work necessary to save us long ago, at Calvary. That is an unchangeable fact. God is just waiting for us to believe the Gospel. We really are not waiting for God to decide to answer our prayers; He has said, "yes", and "Amen" to all of His promises in Christ. Notice Romans 10:10: "For with the heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation". But: "...without faith, it is impossible to please Him (God), for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6).

We receive faith by hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Faith enables us to act with the correct response. The response of our heart to the facts that Biblical faith assures us of, is defined as scriptural belief. We must defend that action of our heart against the attacks of satan, doubt and unbelief. If we yield to them, satan will tempt us to doubt that we receive the facts of God's Word and unbelief will force us into failure. Therefore, we must NOT PERMIT OUR MIND OR HEART TO ABANDON THE ASSURANCE OF FAITH, AND THE RESULTING RESPONSE, FOR ANY REASON. Notice Hebrews 10:35: "Cast not away, therefore, your CONFIDENCE which has great recompense of reward". Hold steadfastly to it. The FACTS of God's Word WILL remain, even if you DO let go, but if you do, you will NOT receive them. That is why satan attacks: to steal them from us through unbelief.

Faith and belief occur in our heart, INDEPENDENTLY of outward, physical circumstances, oppostions, and conditions. The facts of redemption EXIST. They were irrevocably accomplished by Jesus Christ and God the Father, LONG BEFORE our circumstances OCCUR. Though our circumstances and conditions CANNOT delete the FACTS OF REDEMPTION they can cause failure if we respond to them in UNBELIEF.

Therefore, let us rejoice in the facts of redemption and hold fast our confidence until what we are believing for appears. The foregoing statements show exactly how to receive God's promises, whether for salvation, Divine healing or any of His other provisions for us in Christ. They also show how to activate those promises.

The Holy Spirit and the Word of God agree. They work together to cause faith in the heart of those who are willing to believe God. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to make us sensitive to God's Word and to convict us of its trustworthiness. The Holy Spirit also works in us to guide us into all truth, giving us full perception of it, with spiritual understanding and wisdom. Praise God.

Such faith is the mystic substance and evidence in our heart of Divine facts, according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Therefore, we say, "Faith is a FACT". The action that demonstrates that faith is what the Bible calls "BELIEF". Therefore, we say that belief is the ACTION part of faith. The two must work together.

Faith is a substance from God that affects our judgement about things or conditions. For example: "Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she JUDGED Him faithful Who had promised" (Hebrews 11:11).

Faith is that which sustains us in our believing, even to death and beyond. But we must beware lest we focus on our problems rather than on God's Word. If that happens it can move us to anxiety, then DOUBT may get into our heart. If we permit doubt to come in or if we have doubt in our heart, it can nullify our faith. "...If you have faith and DOUBT not..." (Matthew 21:21). We can tell when doubt is affecting us: we begin to lose CONFIDENCE during our faith battles. The contest to prevent such loss of confidence is often referred to as a "faith fight". The Scripture tells us to hold fast our profession without wavering.

An example of one who didn't lose confidence is the patriarch, Abraham. Though his faith spanned about twenty five years before his son Isaac was born, he didn't lose confidence. He staggered not at the promise of God. He didn't let doubt cause him to waver by losing confidence in God's promise. We must not waver either, if we are to receive what God has promised.

Don't focus your attention on your problems. Don't check to see if your faith is working yet. Look STRAIGHT at the facts that are given in God's Word. Then: "Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God...shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7)." When doubt and fear or uncertainty approaches, VIGOROUSLY RESIST THEM; cast down imaginations.

"Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5)." Such faith actions (BELIEVING) WILL CERTAINLY PRODUCE RESULTS. Mark 11:22-24 shows that the God kind of faith works in the ways that we have been discussing.

"Verily I say unto you, if you have faith and doubt not... (Matthew 21:21)." Life's experiences and training causes most people to have plenty of what I will call "RESIDUAL DOUBT". Residual doubt meaning doubt that resides unconsciously in us due to otherwise "inescapeable facts"; such as gravity or "incurable diseases", etc.,. Yet we must not presumptiously ignore such facts, which would be the case without such faith. Instead, we should build up our faith and overcome residual doubt by taking God's Word into our heart. Usually time, study and practice is needed to establish unwavering faith in our heart. But we can overcome residual doubt. We can develop undoubting faith that does not waver in the face of opposition.

Jude verse 20 is a good verse to practice concerning this. "But you, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith...". Don't wait until calamity strikes to try to build up your faith. Every army in the world practices and drills battle tactics BEFORE they go into actual combat. Christians shouldn't wait until battle before attempting to develop their faith either. Believers should teach their children to build up their faith too.

Typical human behaviour wavers in faith, and incorrectly responds towards God. That is, it RESISTS Him, or without faith, attempts to gain what can ONLY be gotten through Biblical faith and believing. It is true that God is merciful and ready to help us. But we must accept the way that He has provided. The Bible warns in Proverbs 14:12: "There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death". How blessed and productive it is to do it God's way!

As previously noted, without faith it is impossible to please God. But He supplies the faith that we need in order to please Him, by His Word, glory to God.