Tags: faith, law, responsibility, stand up
Did you realize that? Did you know that YOU are the one who destroyed what little faith you might have ever had? That IS where the Bible says the blame lays. You might have been taught that it was God’s job to just GIVE you faith! But that isn’t how it works at all!
But, you might say “The disciples asked Christ to increase their faith!” Indeed they did! But did He do it? No! Instead, He told them how to do it themselves!
Luke 17:5-6 And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith. And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.
So Christ’s answer wasn’t to hand them a tidy package of faith! But He did begin to explain the nature of faith to them…
Verses 7-10 But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.
So His answer to their request for faith was to tell them what faith was, and that faith was the result of doing your DUTY! So their answer was “Do your duty to increase your own faith!” Which ties in perfectly with the other scriptures… for example…
1 John 3:21-22 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, BECAUSE WE KEEP his commandments, and DO those things that are PLEASING in his sight.
Now, isn’t that exactly what Christ told the disciples in Luke 17? His response to their question of how to gain faith was “Be obedient!” Of course, these scriptures are hardly alone.
John 9:31 Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, AND DOETH HIS WILL, HIM he heareth.
That’s pretty plain isn’t it? God DOESN’T hear sinners, but he DOES hear those who DO His will! So to increase your faith, DO HIS WILL BETTER! Likewise, if you do not HAVE faith, it is YOUR fault! You have DESTROYED your own faith, by not doing His will!
Proverbs 28:9 He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.
Is YOUR prayer an abomination to God? Do you know? Do you get dramatic responses to your prayers – prayers for healing, understanding, a change in someone’s life – maybe yours? Be honest now, because this answer will only affect YOU, and YOUR life and YOUR salvation – IS your prayer an abomination to God? Does He ignore it, treat it like a dirty dishrag?
2 Corinthians 13:5 EXAMINE yourselves, WHETHER YE be in the faith; PROVE your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, EXCEPT ye be reprobates?
That is YOUR job. Again, you can deceive yourself, and make yourself think God is happy with you, when He’s in fact ignoring you. That is up to you. But wouldn’t you rather be RIGHT? Wouldn’t you rather FACE THE FACTS?
Ezekiel 39:24 According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them.
If God is ignoring you – and I’m betting He is – then it is because of YOUR transgressions. As Jeremiah says…
Jeremiah 2:17 Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast FORSAKEN the LORD thy God, when he led thee by the way?
Now, if you want to change that, well, now is the time.
Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
So, faith comes by hearing. Hearing what? The word of God, it says. What does the word of God do to you? HOW does faith come by hearing the word of God?
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Proverbs 6:23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
This word of God is a lamp – a lamp that shines on the obstacles in your path. It discerns the dark parts of your heart, and peers all over your character looking for SIN!
So when you HEAR the word of God – if you hear it properly – it will PIERCE your heart, and CONVICT you of your sin, and make you CHANGE! And when you change, you will become more obedient – and when you become more obedient, as Christ said, you will INCREASE YOUR FAITH! It is in THIS WAY that faith comes by HEARING!
And it is those who have OBEYED God, and walked in His will with a clean heart, who are HEARD by God. Those who, the instant they heard the commandment, OBEYED it, with their whole heart, and a clean conscience. It is ONLY those who will ever have faith!
Isaiah 38:2-3 Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, And said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.
Can YOU remind God of the years that YOU have walked before Him in truth with a perfect heart, doing ONLY that which was good in His sight? Without lying, of course… ?
Know this:
You will NEVER have Faith, until you CAN remind God of just that.