A MEASURE OF FAITH
Topical
3-18-07
Rom 12:3KJV, “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”
I believe the Apostle Paul is saying that each of us should take a very sober look at ourselves with the measure of faith that God has given us, being careful not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think. None of us were given perfect faith, prefect knowledge, or perfect understanding, but a measure or a limited amount or to some degree.
The important thing is what are we doing with the measured amount that God has given us. God gives each of us a measure of faith that enables us to believe His Word and accept Christ as the Son of God and to accept Him as our Savior. Then I believe God wants us to exercise our faith in serving Him. As we exercise our faith it will grow and become stronger, just as a muscle in our arm will grow stronger with use and the more stress we put on it, the stronger it will get.
2Cor. 10:15CEV, “We don't brag about what others have done, as if we had done those things ourselves. But I hope that as you become stronger in your faith, we will be able to reach many more of the people around you. That has always been our goal.”
‘as you become stronger in your faith’ this is expected of all of us. Just as a normal child will become stronger as he gets older; we are to grow and mature in the faith.
2Th 1:3-4CEV, “My dear friends, we always have good reason to thank God for you, because your faith in God and your love for each other keep growing all the time. 4 That's why we brag about you to all of God's churches. We tell them how patient you are and how you keep on having faith, even though you are going through a lot of trouble and suffering.”
We are each given a measure of faith and it is possible to grow our faith and become stronger in our faith. Difficulties, hardships, trouble and suffering in life will grow our faith if we face each trial with the proper attitude, seeing that this is something God has allowed in our lives for our good.
Let us look at three levels of faith that God speaks of in His Word. Little Faith:
Luke 12:28CEV, Jesus said: “God gives such beauty to everything that grows in the fields, even though it is here today and thrown into a fire tomorrow. Won't he do even more for you? You have such little faith!” Worrying about tomorrow is sign of little faith.
Matt. 14:31HCSB, “Immediately Jesus reached out His hand, caught hold of him, and said to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"” When Peter was on the water and saw the winds and the waves, he doubted and started to sink. Doubt is a sign of little faith.
Matt. 8:24-26, “And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. 25 And his disciples came to him and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. 26 And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.”
Fear is a sign of little faith. Little faith is evident and associated with worry, doubt, and fear. Little faith is like saying, I believe He can, but I have trouble believing that He will.
Let us now look at how God describes Great Faith in His Word.
Mat 8:5-10KJV, “And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, 6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. 7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. 8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. 9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. 10 When Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.”
Notice here we have the centurion, a Gentile, a Roman and a Roman army officer, he might have been the commander-in-chief for this particular garrison, but he had faith and he called Jesus Lord. He knew how the chain of command worked and he knew that all Jesus had to do was to speak the Word and great things would happen. See, there is a word that the Bible calls the Word of Faith, listen to what the Word says in:
Rom. 10:8-9, “But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
Notice the importance of the Word in these verses: first it is the Word of God, then the Word of Faith, and then the Word we speak. God gives us a measure of faith to believe and to confess that Jesus is Lord. Then we can add to that faith and build our Faith with the Word of God. We are to exercise our faith by speaking the Word of Faith and then we will see great things happen in our lives. We see this demonstration of the Power of the spoken Word of Faith at salvation when we believe the Word and speak the Word and receive eternal life—Christ comes to dwell within us. Salvation is the starting point of the life of faith.
Matt. 15:22-28HCSB, “Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came and kept crying out, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is cruelly tormented by a demon." 23 Yet He did not say a word to her. So His disciples approached Him and urged Him, "Send her away because she cries out after us." 24 He replied, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." 25 But she came, knelt before Him, and said, "Lord, help me!" 26 He answered, "It isn't right to take the children's bread and throw it to their dogs." 27 "Yes, Lord," she said, "yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table!" 28 Then Jesus replied to her, "Woman, your faith is great. Let it be done for you as you want." And from that moment her daughter was cured.”
Here we have another Gentile, a Canaanite, crying out to Jesus as Lord, Son of David. She knew that the Gentiles were saved through the Jewish nation and was willing to take even the crumbs from their table. What kind of faith should we have as adopted sons and daughters of God, setting at the table with Christ? God gives us the best He has: He gave His only Son to die for our sins, He adopts us as His own children and now indwells us with His presence with all the glory and grace that are in His presence. He has multiplied His grace to us, grace on top of grace and blessings on top of blessings. And what does He ask of us, except for a living active faith that is based on His Living Word?
Our faith will be tested at times, just like the Canaanite woman’s faith was tested by Jesus, but don’t give up, be persistent. Strong faith is an unrelenting faith. Keep knocking on His door, He will answer.
Great faith is like saying, I believe He can and I know He will.
Dan. 3:17, “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.”
Their answer showed
(a) that they had no doubt of his “ability” to save them if he pleased;
(b) that they believed he would do what was best in the case;
(c) that they were entirely willing to commit the whole case into his hands to dispose of it as he chose.
Isa. 43:2, “When thou passest through the waters, I willbe with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. 3 For I am the LORD thy God,”
God has promised to be with His people through the calamities of life. We are each given a measure of faith to work with. It is up to you and I, we can seal it up, try to protect it, never take any risk with our faith, never ask God for anything out of fear that He won’t answer and that might just destroy what little faith we have, or we can come boldly before our King and make our request known unto Him, we can step out in faith and be willing to take a risk for Christ, we will not allow the winds and waves to frighten us, for our focus is on Christ and His work.
James speaks of our faith being made perfect; do you know how our faith is made perfect? It is when we believe something strong enough that we will stand up for what we believe and put our faith into action.
James 2:22GNB, “Can't you see? His faith and his actions worked together; his faith was made perfect through his actions.”
James is speaking of Abraham, when he had offered Isaac upon the altar. This was a test of Abraham’s faith and we saw how the Canaanite woman’s faith was tested. They both passed their faith test and received the blessings of God. Would you like to take the measure of faith that you have today, whatever that amount is, and move to the next level today? You can. Commit yourself to the Lord, trust and obey Him. I know it sounds to simple to be true, but God will help you every step of the way; He has given you His Word that will illuminate your path to Great Faith. AMEN