Faith is:
Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Faith makes the things of God, real to us. I often say, that faith sees God. Always looks toward Him, and in every circumstance….faith knows God,…there in those circumstances.
Let us talk a little about the reality faith brings:
Romans 5:1 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:”
Justification is such a tremendous doctrine….God makes me, a wretched sinner, who in faith comes to Christ for salvation….not guilty before His holy court….because of the merits of Christ Jesus the Lord.
But justification is more than being not guilty….it is the positive merits of Christ Jesus the Lord being applied to me….that I might approach God, as my Father in heaven….
…this is that “peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:”.
1 Corinthians 5:21 “For He hath made Him (Jesus Christ) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we (the sinner) might be made the righteousness of God….in Him.”
Romans 5:2 “By Whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
We are justified by faith….we have access by faith….
….so we can see….faith is a living and growing vitality within us.
We have access into this grace. This grace is empowering, for by it, we stand (in a world which hates Christ….grace lifts us out of the mire of sin, and…”going along, to get along” attitude….to hold on to the promises and Word of God.).
This grace is empowering, for by it, we can rejoice in hope.
This hope is a faculty of the Holy Spirit within us….it is the confident expectation within us…that God will do what He says. It is an anchor, which holds us in the storms of life…for we are anchored to God by hope. Hebrews 6:19-20 (It is not…I hope, I hope, I hope….but it is from the Holy Spirit…real confidence in God’s Word)
And we can rejoice in hope….of the glory of God. By faith, we are no longer afraid of God….we have access to His presence in prayer, now…..and one day to His presence forever.
Therefore, my soul rejoice! And stand in that rejoicing….for the glory of God now is shining on us in Christ….not for punishment, but for enabling grace and hope!
This faith and grace are so enabling….so sustaining…that we can glory in:
Romans 5:3-4 “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
And patience, experience; and experience, hope:”
Tribulations worketh patience….worketh. We are not zapped…but taught of the Holy Spirit.
We learn patience…or the letting God work all things out, the way He wants.
These are many experiences…but they lead to more growth in hope. We have seen the deliverances, the answers fulfilled, the problem solved. (the weight of our anchor of hope…grows with every trial to steady and hold us…as we yield to it)
How can we learn His faithfulness….if we have no troubles….no hurts….no tribulations (trials)? These work within us patience….for we learn to wait for God to make good on His Word.
When these trials are all to the glory of God, then rejoice!
By faith, we experience more hope….and become not ashamed (again, we stand)…and then we begin to know the reality of:
Romans 5:5 “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”
It is amazing….but Paul in 1 Corinthians 13:13 says: “And now abideth faith, hope, charity (love), these three; but the greatest of these is charity (love).”
And here, to the Romans, he is describing the growth of faith….it is faith, hope, leading to love.
God’s love being “shed abroad in our hearts”….which means, it pours forth…gushes….into our hearts….giving us love for Christ….and love for others. That love is there by the Holy Ghost which is given to us.
Faith sees God….and from there we learn from Him, by the Holy Spirit within. The lessons are varied….some long, some short….all according to His Word and in His time.
And faith is the victory…
1 John 5:3-5 “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not grievous.
For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?”
We are to overcome the world….it’s purpose, it’s attitudes, it’s feelings about things….through faith. For faith sees God and leads us out of ourselves.
Faith holds on in hope….and faith ignites love for God and others within us (sheds it abroad).
What a victory we can have over the world and it’s “things”….by the faith given us by the Holy Spirit, by the precious merits of Christ Jesus our Lord.
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 