My pastor preached a sermon this past Sunday and I asked him if I could share his message. I think all of us need a clearer understanding about the foundational principle of faith and how it works. 

I will not be quoting him verbatim mostly, but I want to acknowledge and give him credit for the inspiration of this column. I will put in quotes anything that Jeffrey said.

Luke 18:8b “… when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” According to Ephesians 2:8-9 we are saved by grace through faith which is a gift of God and not as a result of our works (so that no one may boast). “Faith is made up of the invisible things we are hoping for and joyfully convinced we are one day going to see.” Why would Jesus ask that question?

You were born with a measure of faith but faith can grow and increase through believing and confessing the Word of God or through hearing a Word from God, which usually requires an act of obedience to that word to see it manifest and come to pass. “Faith is never neutral and is always active. We either have our faith in drive (moving forward) or in reverse.” “When God speaks a Word to us specifically, He releases His authority that requires our obedience to that word in order to see it come to pass.”

“Faith is less about believing and more about humbly submitting.” Jeffrey used the example of the Roman Centurion (Matthew 8:5-10) who asked Jesus to heal his servant. 

When he asked Jesus to heal him, Jesus submitted Himself to the custom of the day, which was to go with him to the Centurion’s home. However, this man understood the realm of Jesus’ authority because he, too, was a man under authority. He knew Jesus only had to say the word and his servant would be healed. 

Jesus marveled at the man’s faith. Because he understood the power of authority and submission, he knew Jesus just had to speak the word because he recognized Jesus was a man under authority to His Father, just like the centurion was under submission to his authorities. “The Centurion walked in great humility. He could have ordered Jesus to come to his house because he had the authority to do so, but instead he humbled himself by saying I am not worthy for you to come under my roof, just say the word.”

“Rest is a spiritual act where you trust God beyond what you can accomplish by yourself. Rest requires faith. You cannot have faith without rest, nor can you have rest without faith. … Rest is active — it is the act of intentionally separating yourself from labor … it is time spent with God, listening to Him and then obeying His voice or promptings.” 

It took Abraham a long time to really trust the Lord totally. He tried to help the Lord fulfill his promise to him and ended up with Ishmael before Isaac came along some years later. At the end of his life it was said ‘and Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.’ Abraham had to be willing to sacrifice the very promise God had given to him, to trust God without understanding. But he was called ‘the friend of God’ because he combined his faith with his works, thus perfecting his faith. (See James 2:19-24)

On the other hand, Moses, who had encountered God on a level few have and faithfully followed the Lord until the end of his life, was denied access to the promise (going into the land) because of his unbelief, which led to his disobedience misrepresenting the Lord by allowing offense and judgment to get a foothold in him. (See Numbers 20:8-12) “Because you have not believed Me, to treat Me as holy in the sight of the sons of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”

Unbelief is not acting on God’s word. The scripture makes it plain that unbelief is the same as disobedience and it will keep us out of that place of rest and the promises of God. “And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief.” (Hebrews 3:18-19)

For most of us, these truths are things we have heard taught and preached most of our lives. The question I am asking myself as well as each of you is — are we living in that place of rest? Have we developed a faith like Abraham who had walked with God long enough to know that He was totally trustworthy to perform that which He had promised Abraham, when it was no longer possible to do it in his own strength? Are there things that the Lord has spoken to you in the past but you have become weary and have wavered in your faith and trust? Be like Father Abraham and submit yourself to trusting in His timing to work out those things He has promised.

I don’t want to come to the end of my life and react like Moses and never get to experience that for which I have lived my whole life to see come to pass. Jesus is still asking that question. Will He find faith on the earth? “When we are resting with real spiritual faith induced rest, we are no longer relying upon the things that are visible but we are relying on the invisible God!”