Weighter Matters ( Faith ) Part 3 : By James Lantz
Jesus didn’t call the scribes and Pharisees hypocrites to belittle them, but rather to expose their hypocrisy, so they could see their error, repent and receive the life of God. Mt. 23:23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Jesus identified judgement, mercy, and faith as three areas in which we must get it right in order to receive of the grace of God! Deciding to go all in with what God is doing in the earth today is the wisest decision that we can make! There were people in Capernaum, where Jesus had his headquarters, who ignored the teaching, preaching, and miracle ministry of Jesus. They didn’t rearrange their schedules to go to His meetings, nor support His ministry with their giving and look where are they today. Mt. 11:23&24 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee. All who freely receive of God’s great mercy are required to extend mercy to others. James 2:13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.
The very nature of faith is believing in that which you can not see as yet. Heb. 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Noah believed God’s warning of the coming judgement and being moved with fear prepared the ark for the saving of his house! We, like Noah, have been warned by God of the coming judgement. The gospel of Christ reveals how to escape eternal damnation through faith in Jesus Christ. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God and therefore all need to come to the Father through His Son Jesus Christ to be saved. John. 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Fallen man did not deserve God’s grace nor could he earn it, but God graciously and freely offers the richness of His grace to all who will receive it by faith! Eph. 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Rom. 5:1&2 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. There is only one way to enter into the family of God and that is through faith! To be born into Abraham’s family after the flesh does not qualify anyone special access into the family of God. Rom. 9:8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. Gal. 3:7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. God has offered His grace on a faith basis so that all will have access and none may boast. Rom. 3:30 Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith. We become saved when we believe and acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God who died for our sins and was raised from the dead! We didn’t witness His death nor see Him rise from the dead but by faith we believe the words of those who were eye witnesses! Those of us who have entered the kingdom of God through faith in Christ are now qualified to receive all of God’s blessing. Col. 1:12 AMPC Giving thanks to the Father, Who has qualified and made us fit to share the portion which is the inheritance of the saints (God’s holy people) in the Light. We are to walk and live by the same faith in which we came to Christ. Since we believed the word of God unto salvation, we must also believe God to find and fulfill His call and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, healing for our bodies, protection and provision. Every part of God’s blessing is received through faith. Real faith is constantly active! If we say that we believe God’s word then we must also be a doer of God’s word. Noah and his family would not have been spared from the great flood had they not acted on their faith by investing their time and resources into building the ark. You can not get Abraham’s blessing with Thomas’s unbelief. Unbelief has to see for itself. The preacher told the children of Israel, God said, don’t go out to pick up manna on the Sabbath day. The unbelievers had to go out and look for themselves to see if there would be any manna to pick up. The other disciples told Thomas, Jesus is alive, we saw him, but he said, I will not believe unless I see the nail print in His hands and put my finger in the hole and thrust my hand into His side. After eight days Jesus appeared to them and rebuked Thomas by saying, be not faithless, but believing, and blessed are those who believe without seeing. God does not expect us to believe every far fetched tale that men may tell but He does expect us to believe His word and His prophets. Find scriptures to validate everything you believe and then you can have confidence in God preforming His word!
God promised Abram that He would make a great nation from him when he was seventy five years old and years later God confirmed it again. Gen. 17:5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. God changed Sarai’s name to Sarah and spoke that the promised son would come through Sarah. The Spirit of God through Paul laid out the steps of faith that Abraham took to receive the promised son!
1. Abraham spoke like God does! Abraham called those things which be not as though they were.
Rom. 4:17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
2. Abraham expected their miracle baby when there was no natural reason to believe that Sarah would be able to conceive at 90 years old.
Rom. 4:18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
3. Abraham was strong in faith and considered his body potent and Sarah’s womb alive even though he was about a hundred years old.
Rom. 4:19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb:
4. Abraham did not stagger in unbelief but was strong in faith giving glory to God!
Rom. 4:20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
Rom. 4:21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
Rom. 4:22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
Rom. 4:23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him
Rom. 4:24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
Faith for a miracle starts by hearing from God. Power is released when we do what God said and God does the impossible!
Step 1. Hear God! Step 2. Do what He said! Step 3. God does!
