Faith’s Here to Stay (Part Four)…

by

Pastor Ron Fullerton

91% of the time the word “faith” is used in the entire  Bible…

   it was in letters to the Church – to our ‘age’, to our ‘generation’

 Paul wrote a ‘key’ statement about ‘faith’ in his letter to the Jews

 Heb 11:6   (NKJ)

6  Without [SEPARATE FROM; APART FROM] faith…

it is impossible [UNABLE TO BE DONE; IT IS NOT POSSIBLE]

   to please [TO BE ACCEPTABLE TO; TO BE AGREEABLE TO] Him…

 to misinterpret Paul’s statement... you’d have to want  to get it wrong

 now, if God made ‘faith’ something inaccessible to everyone…

   God would be terribly unfair… an unjust Creator

 to be ‘fair’… God has to make ‘faith’ available to anyone

   so, being totally  ‘fair’ – God HAS DONE exactly that…

 ‘faith’ is available to Americans, Muslims, Hindus, Chinese, heathen...

   exactly the same way – for all generation, for every nation on earth

 Rom 10:17   (NKJ)

17  So then faith comes by hearing (to anyone, anywhere)…

         … faith is out of the source of… that which is heard – Wuest

 there’s no other way to get ‘faith’ – it can’t be ‘transferred’;

   it can’t be bought; it can’t be inherited; it can’t be earned; etc.

 and hearing (to anyone, anywhere – ONLY) by the Word of God.

 so if you can HEAR, (or READ ) the Word – you can receive faith

   no matter: who you are, what you know, or where you live

 to misinterpret Paul’s statement... you’d have to want  to get it wrong

if ‘faith’ really and truly comes by hearing the Word of God…

   we should be able to see examples of that in the NT ???

 Paul said the message he and others with him were teaching…

   was the ‘message’ of faith …

 Rom 10:8   (NLT)

8  … The message is very close at hand;

it is on your lips and in your heart.  And that message…

   is the very message about faith that we preach…

 the Roman centurion (who loved the God of the Jews – Jehovah )

   had an angel appear to him – in his home  – and tell him…

 Acts 11:13-14   (NKJ)

13        … '(Cornelius…) Send men to Joppa (35 mi / now Tel Aviv),

and call for Simon whose surname is Peter,

14        'who (Simon Peter) will tell you WORDS…

by which (words) you and all your household will be saved.'

 Cornelius and his household didn’t get ‘saved’ by the angel or  Peter

   they got ‘saved’ by WORDS – by what they HEARD Peter say

 those WORDS generated ‘faith’… in the message they HEARD

   they then confessed Jesus as Lord – and ALL were ‘saved’

 none of that would have happened if they hadn’t HEARD

 5 years later, and 400 miles NW in what is now the nation of Turkey

   HEARING was still at work producing ‘faith’…

 Acts 14:5-10   (NKJ)

5  … when a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to abuse and stone them,

6  they (Paul & Barnabas) became aware of it

and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia,

   and to the surrounding region.

7  And they were PREACHING (out loud) the gospel there.

 which was the same ‘message of faith’ in Jesus…

   that Paul had been preaching in Israel

 8  And in Lystra a certain man…

without strength in his feet was sitting,

   a cripple from his mother's womb, who had NEVER walked.

9  This man HEARD Paul speaking (the Gospel).

Paul, observing him intently and seeing…

   that he (that ‘listener’, suddenly…) had faith to be healed,

 Paul’s attention was called to that man by the Holy Spirit, Who…

   let Paul know that man now had faith... to believe what Paul said

 10  (Paul) said with a loud voice,

"Stand up straight on your feet!"

   And he (who had just heard the Gospel for the first time)…

      leaped and walked.

 nothing had happened to set that man’s faith off

   there was nothing to build his ‘faith’ on other than WORDS…

 but, Thank God… that was enough !!!   and it still is…

 Well, Pastor Ron… wouldn’t it be marvelous

   if we only knew what Paul preached that day !!!

 well, we know for sure Paul preached the Gospel to them

   and we know for sure what the ‘core’ of the Gospel is…

 because Jesus, Himself quoted it in Luke 4:18…

   out of the book of the Prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 61

 this IS the Gospel (the Good News)

   that Paul preached everywhere he went

and when it’s proclaimed… ‘faith’ is still released… every time

 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me;

The Spirit of the Lord has anointed me…

   to preach Good News to the poor;

 who ARE the brokenhearted…

    that SHALL hear the Word and (thus) be comforted

 who ARE the captives…

   that SHALL hear the Word and (thus) be set free

 who ARE the blind…

   that SHALL hear the Word and (thus) see

 who ARE the downtrodden…

   that SHALL hear the Word and (thus) be raised up.

The Spirit of the Lord…

   has appointed me to announce:

God has thrown open the gates of Heaven

   to all who will make Jesus – LORD.

 now, you can do like the crippled man in the city of Lystra did…

   and grab hold of the ‘faith’ released in those words…

 or, you can leave here still brokenhearted, still a captive,

   still bound, and still downtrodden

 but you can’t blame God for remaining…

   brokenhearted, a captive, bound, or downtrodden

                                                                   Pastor Ron

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