I want to start with a quote from Smith Wigglesworth. One of the goals of our church is to get people turned “on” towards Jesus and turned “off” by the things of the world without turning off the people of our region but rather getting them turned “on” to Jesus, as well. They need to see Jesus in us.
“The reason the world is not seeing Jesus is that Christian people are not filled with Jesus. They are satisfied with attending meetings weekly, reading the Bible occasionally, and praying sometimes. It is an awful thing for me to see people who profess to be Christians lifeless, powerless, and in a place where their lives are so parallel to unbelievers’ lives that it is difficult to tell which place they are in, whether in the flesh or in the Spirit.”
Smith Wigglesworth
Everything that is healthy, grows. That doesn’t make everything that grows, good or good for us. You can have healthy weeds and healthy cancer cells. We can also see movements that are growing in society that portray something healthy, like “tolerance and acceptance” but lead to the destruction of a society because they erode the very distinctions and foundation of a society. Gender identity is a great example with the month of June, being Pride month in the States. Just because something becomes popular and grows does not make it good.
What we can have confidence in, is this, that the things that are good and healthy will continue to grow into eternity, while the things that have an appearance of good but are not, are passing away. This is what growing faith is all about. We can have healthy growing faith. God desires us to enjoy the confidence of growing faith in Him and His ability in us to cause us to stand and grow good things in the earth.
In a world of opposition, God is not threatened by the evil that appears to be and wants to portray itself as dominant in the earth. Evil, never has been and never will be dominant in the earth. God proved this with the flood. Evil is passing away. God’s kingdom is eternal, always has been, always will be. What we need to be concerning ourselves with continually is whether we are truly in faith. Our success is inevitable if we can remain in Him. God changed the entire game of life by sending His Own Son in the likeness of man. He promised never to destroy the earth again. He’s creating a new heaven and a new earth by people just like you and me. He alone can change the heart of man that lets him in. This is the new creation in man. This again is what growing faith is all about.
11 Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen. 2 For our ancestors won God’s approval by it.
Hebrews 11:1–3 (HCSB)
3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by God’s command, so that what is seen has been made from things that are not visible.
Everything we see in the creation of the earth speaks of faith. God operates through faith. God created the foundations of the earth by faith and the very earth we live on responds to faith. Faith is simply believing and trusting in God and His word. You can live by God’s word but it takes your faith. The Bible says every man is given a measure of faith to believe but you can grow faith by hearing and responding to God and His word. This is no small task in a world of a gazillion voices to respond to.
Four Keys to Growing Faith from Romans 5:1-5.
- Entrance – opening of relationship.
- Empowerment – His ability in us.
- Assignment – His purposes in us
- Growth path – the way of growing faith.
These four keys are in this passage…
5 Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 We have also obtained access through Him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, 4 endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. 5 This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
1. Entrance – “Since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God.” He chose us, He’s not angry with mankind. This is the beginning of turning the faith switch on. This is foundational but also the anchor of our relationship with Him throughout our maturing process in faith. Simple, but necessary to keep it fresh that we might share our faith with others.
18 So then, as through one trespass there is condemnation for everyone, so also through one righteous act there is life-giving justification for everyone. 19 For just as through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
Romans 5:18–19 (HCSB)
12 But to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born, not of blood, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.
John 1:12–13 (HCSB)
Have you put your faith to this relationship? Do you believe?
2. Empowerment – Faith releases His ability on our behalf. We find His ability when we are called on to do what we are not capable of. Why is faith important? It is the element that accesses God and His kingdom. It’s the connector from heavens resources to earth. “We have also obtained access through Him by faith into this grace in which we stand”
We come back to this often through our growing of faith Eph. 2:8,9
8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— 9 not from works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are His creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time so that we should walk in them.
Eph. 2:8,9
Saved by grace through faith. It is given to us, yet it awaits our willful response, to be set in motion. Faith without works is dead. We grow faith. Our own efforts run out. Grace through faith acquired this standing of righteousness before God as our position of relationship. Not in the arrogance or pride of our ability but in the belief of His provision of standing with Him through Jesus. This position continues to be the position of which we work from. We do good works through faith. It’s this growing relationship of faith and empowering grace that keeps up in the humility zone. We don’t dare boast in our own ability, though given to us by God.
3. Assignment – until we get out of the realms we control, namely self, we are not as valuable as we could be for His kingdom. and “we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God” It’s the hope of the glory of God that we are after. It comes to those that exercise their faith. Faith exercised for the kingdom takes us beyond the realm of self.
Hope is not wishful thinking here. Let me remind you of hope according to biblical hope. Trusting in a good God for a good outcome.
Hope. The confidence that, by integrating God’s redemptive acts in the past with trusting human responses in the present, the faithful will experience the fullness of God’s goodness both in the present and in the future.
Craver, B. (2016). Hope. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
This type of hope believes that because God said it, it is our reality, regardless of how things look in the natural. Faith is active for assignment in this kind of hope.
Parable of the talents is a parable of assignment in the kingdom. We learn faith for His glory not ours. Each one of us has an assignment, according to our own ability. Equal playing field.
14 “For it is just like a man going on a journey. He called his own slaves and turned over his possessions to them. 15 To one he gave five talents; to another, two; and to another, one—to each according to his own ability. Then he went on a journey. Immediately
Matthew 25:14–15 (HCSB)
They all had talents given according to their ability. None of this arrangement was unfair. Life may not be fair sometimes but God is always fair in dealing with the hearts of men. The problem was not the lazy servant’s ability, it was the servant’s view of God which ultimately was more focused on himself than the well-being of the master’s house.
24 “Then the man who had received one talent also approached and said, ‘Master, I know you. You’re a difficult man, reaping where you haven’t sown and gathering where you haven’t scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went off and hid your talent in the ground. Look, you have what is yours.’
4. Growth path – we learn strength through the affliction of life. This makes us into loving soldiers. Affliction is a nasty word isn’t it.
Affliction. θλίβω in the lit. sense: “to press,” “squash,” “rub,” “hem in”:
Schlier, H. (1964–). θλίβω, θλῖψις. G. Kittel, G. W. Bromiley, & G. Friedrich (Eds.), Theological dictionary of the New Testament (electronic ed., Vol. 3, p. 139). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
3 “And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, 4 endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope.”
Romans 5:3-4 (HCSB)
The enemy tries to put us down through affliction not understanding that affliction is the very tool that God uses to purify and exact judgement on the enemy through a purified church. It becomes our growth path of conquering faith. Passing affliction tests cause us to have more faith in God. It becomes the anthem of selfless faith.
Here is some affliction. Being wrongly judged by someone. This is very hard on self-righteousness. The fair police come out very quickly. Doing good and being accused of doing wrong. God really knows. God says you’re blessed when this happens because you’ve endured a transformation of heart. You’re not as concerned with protecting yourself as much as you are after God’s interest for people.
11 “You are blessed when they insult and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of Me. It’s like throwing gas on the fire. You’re blessed.
Matthew 5:11 (HCSB)
43 “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. For He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same?
Matthew 5:43–46 (HCSB)
Remember the beginning of the message? God is not threatened by evil. Pray for them. Pray for their blessing from God. Pray for their salvation.
13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. 14 How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.
Matthew 7:13–14 (HCSB)
The devil is never in charge when we yield to Jesus. A person that is not yielding to Jesus, is being deceived by the enemy to give their lives to something unworthy.
The fighting through afflictions produces this type of hope because He loves us but more importantly we learn to love Him better through affliction.
Paul understood this faith clearly when He spoke of this to the Corinthians.
The anthem of faith in affliction.
2 Corinthians 4:7–18 (HCSB)
7 Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us. 8 We are pressured in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; 9 we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed. 10 We always carry the death of Jesus in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who live are always given over to death because of Jesus, so that Jesus’ life may also be revealed in our mortal flesh. 12 So death works in us, but life in you. 13 And since we have the same spirit of faith in keeping with what is written, I believed, therefore I spoke, we also believe, and therefore speak. 14 We know that the One who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and present us with you. 15 Indeed, everything is for your benefit, so that grace, extended through more and more people, may cause thanksgiving to increase to God’s glory.
16 Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. 17 For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. 18 So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Paul describes faith. Matured faith follows this growth path. Do you see any similarities?
This is the goal of growing faith. Not the fact of difficulty and persecution but fact of His life being manifest in our natural world.
7 Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us. This is the goal of Growing Faith.
This is our journey to grow our faith.
