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The three (3) Elements of Faith – Heb. 11:1
Faith is Right Now – “Now faith is…” Faith is not tomorrow or by and by. Faith is right now!
Substance( Physical Reality) of Faith – “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for…”
The substance of faith is GOD HIMSELF. We must trust GOD because of:
HIS love – John 3:16; Rom. 8:32, Rom. 8:38-39 and
HIS power – Luke 1:37, Psalm 115:3.
Evidence of Faith – “Now faith is the… evidence of things not seen.”
The evidence of faith is the WORD of GOD – Rom. 10:17
The particular WORD (Rhema) that GOD speaks to me is the evidence of my faith.
How to Walk by Faith – Matt. 14:22-23
Faith comes by hearing the WORD – Rom. 10:17 Peter heard JESUS’ WORD – Matt. 14:29
GOD’S WORD may be contrary to our daily experiences.
JESUS’ WORD to Peter was “Come” and walk on top of the water. But Peter’s daily experience as a fisherman was contrary to this. What did he do? Obey the WORD!
GOD’S WORD may be hindered by fear, which comes from the enemy – 2 Tim. 1:7.
The remedy for fear is the PRESENCE OF JESUS. Matt. 14:27; Heb. 13:5; Eph. 3:17
Obey the WORD – Peter obeyed the WORD – Matt. 14:29
Peter’s obedience was immediate or right now!
Peter’s obedience has evidence – the WORD OF JESUS.
Peter’s obedience has a substance – JESUS HIMSELF, who loves Peter and who has the unlimited power to make Peter walk on water.
Risks are involved when we obey GOD’s WORD.
Peter had to leave the security of the boat and go into the unknown perils of sea, in order to obey JESUS’ WORD.
The testing of Faith
Peter’s obedience or walk of faith was tested by the strong wind and big waves.
Looking Unto JESUS – Heb, 12:2
During this time of testing, we must continue looking unto JESUS. How?
JESUS and HIS WORD are the same – Rev. 19:13; John 12:48
Continue to accept and trust THE WORD, which JESUS spoke.
Reject any feeling that may contradict the WORD.
The Gospel Explained.
The Bad News
All have sinned – Rom. 3:23
The wages or penalty of sin is death – Rom. 6:23; Rev. 20:15.
The Good News
God the FATHER sent HIS SON JESUS to redeem us from sin. – John 3:16.
JESUS is the only WAY to the FATHER – Jon 14:6;
I make JESUS as my WAY to the FATHER by surrendering my life to JESUS and receiving HIM as my LORD – Rev. 3:20; 2 Cor.5:15
Lesson-3
FAITH
Let us review what we have learned so far. The remedy for all the problems that we have is the kingdom of God. Jesus is saying: “Here is now the remedy, the kingdom of God. And how do you belong to this kingdom of God? Two steps are necessary, repent and believe to the Gospel. We have learned how to repent. Now we are going to study the second step – believe the Gospel.
Belief means faith, and so we are going to look at faith. What is faith? The Bible defines faith in Hebrew 11:1:
“Now faith is the substance of things hope for, the evidence of things not seen.”
There are 3 words in that definition that are very important, namely:
Now
Substance
Evidence
FAITH IS RIGHT NOW
Faith is right now because the Bible says “now faith is”. Faith is not tomorrow. Faith is not by and by. Faith is not later on. Either you have faith right now, or not at all. If you say; “Ah, I want to believe that tomorrow the Lord will heal me.” That means you have no faith. When tomorrow comes and then you say again, “Oh, I still have the stomach pain. So perhaps this afternoon the Lord will heal me.” You have no faith. Faith is right now. Wanting to believe is not good enough. Either you believe or you don’t believe!
SUBSTANCE OF FAITH
Faith has a substance. It is not a “blind leap”. Faith is not like jumping in a very dark place and one does not know where he will land.
Faith has a substance or an assurance. The substance of faith is GOD HIMSELF. I trust GOD because of:
HIS love; and
HIS power.
I know GOD loves me and HE has the power to do what HE says to me.
GOD LOVES ME
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
“He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” Romans 8:32
“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39
GOD HAS THE UNLIMITED POWER
“For with God nothing shall be impossible.” Luke 1:37
“But our God is in heaven, He does whatever He pleases. “ Psalm 115:3
So, I am assured that what GOD says to me, HE will fulfill. Why? Because HE loves me and HE has the power to do what HE says. The substance of my faith is GOD HIMSELF, HIS love for me and HIS power to fulfill HIS WORD.
EVIDENCE OF FAITH
Faith too has evidence. Hebrews 11:1 says: “Now faith is the substance of things hope for, the evidence of things not seen.”
What is the evidence of faith? It is the WORD that is spoken to me. Romans 10:17 says: “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the WORD of GOD.” The particulars WORD that GOD speaks to me that is the evidence of my faith.
Let us give an example in everyday life. Suppose I have a four-year old child. And then one day I say to my child: “Marie, on Sunday we will eat ice cream.” You know what my child would do? Today is Monday, Right now she would jump up and down say, “Ah, thank you Daddy, thank you, Daddy.” Why is my daughter-saying thank you? Because right now, my daughter can see the ice cream that she is going to eat on Sunday. Right now she can see the ice cream. Why? What is the assurance or substance of my daughter seeing the ice cream? The substance is: my daughter knows that I love her, and that I fulfill my word, and that I have the power to buy her ice cream. That is my daughter can see the ice cream right now.
What is the evidence of my daughter seeing the ice cream? May words that I have spoken. Even if she is my daughter, If she is my daughter, if I did not speak the word, then she could have no evidence for expecting to eat ice cream. “On Sunday, we will eat ice cream.” If my daughter did not hear these words, even if she is my daughter, she will not have any evidence to see the ice cream.
But why can my daughter see the ice cream? Because she has evidence. What is the evidence? The words that I have spoken to her: “Marie, on Sunday we will eat ice cream.”
ELEMENTS OF FAITH
Now… Faith is right now;
Substance… Faith is based on the love and power of GOD; and
Evidence… The evidence of faith is the WORD of GOD.
HOW TO WALK BY FAITH
Now, let us study the incident found in Matthew 14:22-33.
“Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitude away. And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on a mountain by Himself to pray. And when evening had come, He was alone there. But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled saying, ‘It is a ghost!’ And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid!’ And Peter answered Him and said, ‘Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water!’ So He said, ‘Come.’ And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!’ And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’ And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those who were in the boat came and worshipped Him, saying, ‘truly You are the Son of God.’
It was Jesus who asked the disciples to get into the boat and launch out into the sea. And as the boat was in the middle of the sea there was storm. Did Jesus know that the disciples would meet the storm in the midst of the sea? Yes, of course. Jesus being God foresaw the storm. But why, Lord, did You allow the disciples to be in that storm? Because, as we will see in the incident reported in the Bible, the Lord taught them a very important lesson of faith.
Does Jesus know the problems that you are facing today? These problems may even be compared to storms in their intensity. But, Lord, why do You allow these problems in our lives? Because Jesus wants to teach us some important lessons.
One lesson we learned in the Bible study in Foundation is that storms are allowed in our lives so that “The things which cannot be shaken may remain” (Hebrews 12:27). “The Lord test the righteous” (Psalm 11:5).
. Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled saying, ‘It is a ghost!’ And they cried out for fear.” Matthew 14:26
FEAR COMES FROM THE ENEMY:
The disciples became afraid. Fear is not of the Lord. Feal always comes from the enemy because the Bible says, “For God has not given us spirit of fear, but of love, power, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). Therefore, when you experience fear, then you are being attacked by the evil one.
And look at the reply of Jesus in verse 27. “But immediately Jesus spoke to them saying, be of good cheer! It is I, do not be afraid”. Please take note that the Lord again said: “Do not be afraid.” This is the second time Jesus admonished them not to be afraid. Fear is not from GOD; it is from the devil.
What is the remedy against fear? How can fear be driven away?
REMEDY FOR FEAR
The Lord said: “It is I; do not be afraid.” (v. 27) So, the remedy against fear is the PRESENCE OF JESUS “It is I!” JESUS is always with the Christian, because JESUS lives in his heart (Ephesians 3:17; Revelations 3:20). And Jesus says: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5).
“So we may boldly say; ‘The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:6).
FAITH COMES BY HEARING:
And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if is You, command me to come to You on the water” (v. 28). So Jesus said to Peter, “Come!” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water (v. 29). He walked on the water! Peter walked on the water to go to Jesus. Why did he experience a miracle? Why was he able to walk on top of the water? Answer: because of faith. The LORD said: “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Mark 9:23.
Where is the faith in this incident? How did faith come to Peter?
Peter heard JESUS spoke the Word: “Come!” At the moment Peter received faith when he heard the Word “Come!” Why? Because the Bible says: “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17). The moment the WORD of GOD is spoken to you, then you received faith. Faith comes by hearing the WORD of God. So, Peter received faith when he heard the Word “Come!” spoken to him by JESUS.
Faith comes to us when we hear the Word because the quality fo the Word of God is this, the Word of God is so powerful that when it comes to you, when that Word comes, at that very moment, faith also comes because of the Word brings faith. Let me repeat that, the Word of God brings faith. That is why if you do not hear the Word of God, you will never have faith. Faith comes by hearing the Word. It is very important to see that the Word contains faith. The Word of God contains faith.
What else happened to Peter? Peter obeyed the Word.
You remember our first lessons on building our lives on God? How do we build our lives on God? Hear the Word and after hearing, you obey. Ah, that is what Peter did, he obeyed.
EXPERIENCE VERSUS THE WORD OF GOD:
Now, listen, there is always an obstacle to obeying the Word of God. There is always something unknown when we use our faith, therefore you must trust that Word. Why? Look at Peter. He is a fisherman and all his life he had gone to the sea. And he never experienced walking on top of the water. His experienced always was when he went to the sea, he could sink in the water. And so if I were Peter and I heard Jesus speaking to me “Come”, I might say, “Lord, in all my life I have not experienced walking on top of the water. And, Lord, how can You tell me now to come to You? Please show me first how I can walk on top of the water.”
In other words, what I am saying is that if you base obedience to the Word on your experience, then you will never obey the Word. Obedience to the Word does not depend on our previous experiences. This is very important. But suppose you have never experienced or your experience is contrary to what God is asking you to do, what is your response to God’s WORD? That is here faith comes in. Because faith means to obey the Word that you have heard regardless of your experience.
And notice that Peter immediately obeyed. he never asked his companions who were also fishermen, “Hey, John, do you think I can walk? What do you say? Do you think I can walk on top of the water?” When God is telling you to do something, immediately obey.
OBEDIENCE MUST BE IMMEDIATE:
What is the Lord telling you? Don’t ask me, you ask the Lord. He told you something. What is your response? Peter obeyed the Word. When did Peter obey the Word? Right away. Obedience is right now. It is not tomorrow. It is not by and by. Right now! In Hebrews 11:1, Faith is defined as right now. how is faith shown to be right now? By immediate obedience. Notice that Peter immediately obeyed the Word of Jesus. Why? Because faith is right now. Peter showed his faith by his immediate obedience.
The faith of Peter had a substance. What is the substance of faith? Peter knew Jesus. Peter had observed and experienced already the love of Jesus. And that is why it is important to know and experience the love of God. peter knew that Jesus loves him. Peter knew that Jesus would never tell a lie. And so, Peter’s faith, the faith that Peter received, had a substance. And what is the substance? The love of God and the power of God. Peter had seen the power of Jesus. peter had seen the miracles of Jesus. And therefore he could truly say, “Lord, You asked me to go to You, I will obey.” Why? “Because I know You have the power to enable me to walk because that is whay You said, ‘Come!’ And so that means I can walk.
You remember the story of Abraham in the book of Genesis (Genesis 22). Abraham was asked to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. And yet God told Abraham, “Abraham, through your only son, I will raise up a family. I will rise up the people of God.” Then later on, his son grew and when the son was about 12 years old God said, “Sacrifice your son to Me.” You will notice that these two words of God would seem contractictory. Why? Because God had said, “Through your son I will form or I will create a family, as numerous as the stars of heaven, as numerous as the sand of the sea.” And yet later, God was saying, “Kill your son. Sacrifice your son.” If you were Abraham, what would you say?” You would say, “Lord, how can Your promise be fulfilled. If I will kill my son?” But you know Abraham is willing to sacrifice his son. Why? The explanation is found in the book of Hebrews, in chapter 11. There it says Abraham was willing to offer his son, why? Because Abraham believed that God was able to raise up his son (Hebrews 11:17-19). That is how well Abraham knew his God.
That is the basis of our faith when we obey God. God loves us, thererfore His plans for us are plans for good and not for evil. And so when we hear God saying to us something, then we obey. Why? Because “I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able…” (2 Timothy 1:12).
But suppose our expereince is contrary to what God is saying, then we don’t rely on our experience. We rely or accept His Word and then obey the Word.
The obedience of Peter had evidence. Peter obeyed God’s Word. Why? Because his obedience has evidence. What is the evidence? The Word of Jesus. Peter heard JESUS’ Word “come”, that is the very Word of God. And therefore his faith had evidence, that evidence is the Word of Jesus.
Let us now summarize briefly. Peter obeyed because his obedience had a substance, the love and power of God. His obedience had evidence, the Word of Jesus. In effect, we are saying that the obedience of Peter is the proof of his faith. Peter received a miracle, why? Because he obeyed. Peter now is building his life on Jesus. Hod did Peter build his life on Jesus on that very occasion? Peter heard the Word and then Peter obeyed.
RISK ARE INVOLVED:
Obedience will always involve risks. That is an important consideration in obeying God. When we obey God, HE does not take away the risks. There will always be risks in our obedience. Let me repeat that: God does not take away the risks. What is the risk? For Peter, he was there on the boat. And that boat was solid. But then Jesus said, “You come, walk on the sea. Come, come.” But Peter could have said” : “Oh Lord, the water is not solid. And there is storm. Lord, if You really want me to go to You , take away the storm first and then make the water solid.”
Never, never look at circumstances before obeying the LORD. Circumstances will be oftentimes contrary to the Word. Jesus said, ‘come.” But do we say, “Lord, there is a storm!” No! Just obey the Word. Tht is the meaning of faith. Faith means trusting the ONE who speaks. And faith will always involve risks because if there is no risk, then there is no more place for trust. If there is no risk in obeying the Lord, there is no need of trusting Him. And if there is no more trust, then there is no more faith.
Why don’t you obey? Because you are afraid? And fear is always an attack of the devil. You see the risk and you are afraid.
The remedy against fear is the PRESENCE OF JESUS.
TESTING OF FAITH:
There is always the testing of faith. In verse 30, Peter now is walking on top of the water. So Peter now is experiencing a miracle. And now, here is a testing of the faith of Peter. It says here in verse 30, “But when Peter saw that the wind was very strong,” Peters saw. How can Peter see the wind? Ah, he experienced the effect of the wind. He experienced the wind blowing upon him and saw that the wind is creating big waves. Peter was afraid. Again, he was attacked by the evil one. Peter became afraid. “And beginning to sink, he cried out saying, “Lord, save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him and said to him, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
What was the testing of faith of Peter? There was problems as he was obeying the Lord. He was already obeying the Lord. He was experiencing a miracle. He was walking on top of the water. Now, the wind continued to blow. There was the storm. The storm was blowing. And Peter looked at the wind. And the moment Peter looked at the problems, the strong wind and the storm, Peter sank. Why? Because the Bible says, do not look at your problems. What are you going to do with your problems? The Bible says, “casting your problems, all your cares, unto Jesus because He cares for you.” (I Peter 5:7). The Bible says, Do not look at your problems. Where will you look? “Looking unto Jesus” (Hebrews 12:2). But the moment he turned this eyes and looked at the wind, Peter became afraid and he sank. Why did he looked at the problem.
LOOKING UNTO JESUS:
So what are we going to do during testing? During times of testings, during times of problems, we must always look unto Jesus and cast or throw all our problems unto Jesus, because He cares for us.
During times of testing, what are we going to do? How do we maintain faith? Look always unto Jesus. (Hebrews 12:2) Do not look at the problems. The problems of Peter were the big waves and the strong wind. Don’t look, don’t look! What are you going to do with your problems? Throw them, cast them unto Jesus!
How does one look at JESUS? JESUS and HIS WORD are the same.
“He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called the WORD OF GOD.” Revelation 19:13)
“He who rejects ME, and does not receive MY WORDS, has that which judges him: the WORD that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.” John 12:48
Rejecting the Words of JESUS is also rejecting JESUS. Why? Because JESUS and HIS WORDS are the same. So, If I accept, trust and obey the WORDS of JESUS, then I am also accepting, trusting and obeying JESUS. Because JESUS AND HIS WORDS are the same.
Therefore, I look at JESUS by my acceptance of, trust and obedience to HIS WORDS.
We live by faith. The Christian life is a life of faith. And we read in 2 Corinthians 5:7, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” How d I walk? Step by step by step by step. The Christian life is like that. The Christian life is a daily walk of faith. In this problem, what am I going to do? I do not use my sight. I do not use what I feel. I do not use my senses. What do I do? I use the very faith of God. How do I receive the faith of God? I first hear His word. Lord, speak to me in this problem. Lord, if you don’t speak, I have no faith because faith comes from hearing Your Word. Lord, Oh Lord, what do You say in this problem? Ah, speak Lord, because I cannot go forward without Your speaking first to me. So, Lord, please speak.” And faith does not originate from us. Faith comes from the Word. So we must hear the Word of the Lord.
For we live by faith, not by sight. What does this mean? The word sight means the use of the senses or feelings. The Bible says, we live everyday by faith, not by sight. In other words, our feelings will oftentimes be contrary to faith. What is the meaning of faith?
Faith simply is obedience to the veery specific Word that you have heard. And so to simply that, it means like this: here is the Word of God, you have heard the very specific Word, and here are your feelings. The Word of God says one thing. But your feelings say another. What are you going to do? Now, do not say that you have no will. You are always free to obey the Word or to obey what you feel.
FEELINGS VERSUS THE WORD OF GOD:
Feelings will oftentimes be contrary to the Word. Now, what are you going to do? If you obey the Word, then you are rejecting your feelings. Faith means obedience to the very specific Word that you have heard. Faith always involves obedience.
Let me testify now. One day I was reading the Word. I happened to read during my morning quite time Mark 16:17-18. It says there, “These signs shall follow them that believe. In my Name they shall cast out demons. In my Name they shall lay hands on the sick and the sick shall recover.” The Lord used this very Word to speak to me. My eyes were sick because I was wearing glasses at that time. I could not read without glasses. And if I took away my glasses, even for give minutes, I would have nausea and vomit. The doctor said I must wear my glasses everyday. And so I said, “Lord, my eyes are sick. You mean to tell me that if I believe You, I can lay hands on my eyes and the my eyes will surely be healed?” And the Lord used this verse to speak to me. He said, “Yes, if you believe Me.” “Oh, yes, Lord, I believe.” I said. And so I took off my glasses. I laid hands on my eyes. And I said, “In the Name of Jesus, let my eyes be healed!” Then I said, “Thank You, Lord. Now my eyes are healed. Oh Thank You, You have healed my eyes.”
Then I Opened my eyes. I still could not see. What I am I going to do? That is called the testing of faith. And so I said, “Lord, thank You for healing me. From now on, according to Your Word, I am healed. But according to my eyes, according to my feelings I am not yet healed. So I am deciding to choose to believe Your Word not my eyes, not my feelings. From now on, I will not wear my glasses anymore. Why? Because I’m healed. I’m healed! That is what the Word of God says, I’m healed.”
I was teaching in the university at that time. I remembered I was going to classes without my glasses, and I could not see. And you know, you have to take the right vehicle in Manila in going from one place to another. If you take the wrong one, you go to the wrong place. And I could not read the sign board in the public vehicles. So I had to ask the driver. “Please tell me, where you are going? “What’s the matter with you? Can you not read?” The driver replied. “Oh hallelujah, thank You, Lord for healing my eyes. Thank You, Lord, You have healed my eyes. You have healed my eyes.” I would exclaim. For one whole week, I was saying to the Lord, “Thank you, Lord, You have healed me.” And then after about a week, all of sudden my eyes became well. I could see very well.
What is the lesson the Lord taught me? Faith is trusting the Word not your feelings. By the way, you do not copy other people. When you hear this testimony, do not copy me. You must hear The very specific Word of the Lord being personally spoken to you.
So faith means trusting the Word, obeying the Word rather than your feelings. And faith will oftentimes be contrary to our feelings because the Bible says we walk by faith, not by sight, not by our feelings, not by our senses. We walk by faith, not by sight.
Jesus said that in order to belong to kingdom of God, one must repent and believe. What are you going to believe? The Gospel. Believe the Gospel. We have studied “Believe” or faith. Now, we study the meaning of the Gospel.
THE GOSPEL EXPLAINED:
The “Gospel” means good news. And in order to understand the good news, you must first understand the bad news. You cannot appreciate the good news unless you know the bad news. And so wer are going to study the bad news and the good news.
BAD NEWS
The Bible tells us that all have sinned (Romans 3:23), and the wages or penalty for sin is death (Romans 6:23). The word “death” here does not mean nothingness or extinction. It means eternal separation from GOD who is the SOURCE of life and eternal suffering in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15).
This is the bad news: all have sinned and are, therefore, going to the lake of fire.
THE GOOD NEWS
Here is the good news. God does not want us to go to the lake of fire. God loves us so much that He made a remedy or a way for us to escape the lake of fire. Jesus is the remedy. He is the Way. For God so loves us, that He gave His Only Begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Jesus, will never perish but have life everlasting (John 3:16). And Jesus said, “I am the Way (John 14:6) and I will bring you to My Father because I will give you eternal life. I am the Way. No one goes to my Father except through Me, Jesus. And if you received Me as the way, then surely I will bring you, surely, there is no doubt, I will bring you to my Father.” That is the good news.
THE REMEDY FOR SIN:
The Father’s only remedy for all of our sins, the Father’s only remedy that we should not go to hell is Jesus. Jesus alone. There is no other remedy. And this is very important to realize, that the only remedy of God for us is Jesus. That is why when Jesus came here, He said “The kingdom of God is right now here. I am the King of this kingdom. I am the remedy because I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one goes to my Father except through Me. I am the only remedy.” Here are the diagrams to illustrate the above.
BAD NEWS GOOD NEWS
Man cannot go to GOD. All But God love you so much
men have sinned and have that HE gave HIS SON JESUS
been separated from GOD. to die on the cross for you.
Man is going to hell, because JESUS rose from the dead to
of his sins. This is the bad news. give you eternal life. JESUS is
the only way to the Father. This
is the good news or the Gospel.
How do you make JESUS your way to the FATHER? JESUS says: “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” (Revelation 3:20) JESUS is knocking at the door of your heart. Are you willing to open your life to JESUS and make HIM your LORD?
To make JESUS the LORD of your life means that “HE (JESUS) died for all, so that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for HIM” alone (2 Corinthians 5:15), JESUS becomes the LORD or number one in your life. Are you willing to make a decision? If you have decided to make JESUS the LORD of your life, then pray to HIM:
“Thank you LORD JESUS for dying for me on the cross, for paying my sins. I decide now to surrender my whole life to You. I turn away from my sins. I receive YOU LORD JESUS, in my heart as my LORD and GOD. Make me the person YOU want me to be. Amen.”
FAITH: GUIDE QUESTIONS
What are the 3 elements of Faith and explain each?
When faced with a problem, what must you do to have the faith to overcome this problem.
What do you do when your faith is tested by trials and shakings?
When your feelings contradict the WORD, what must you do?
We must believe the gospel, Jesus said. What is this Gospel?
Answers to Lesson 3
FAITH
The 3 elements of FAITH are:
NOW – Faith is having it right now, not tomorrow nor later on. Either you have faith now or none at all.
SUBSTANCE – It is not a blind leap in the dark. It has a substance composed of the Love and Power of God.
EVIDENCE – The Word of God.
Consult the Lord and Listen to what He says about this problem. Then, obey the word that you heard from the Lord.
Continue to look on to Jesus by remembering what He told you and holding on to His word in spite of the circumstances.
Disregard your feelings and obey the WORD.
This gospel is Jesus Christ who came to suffer and died for our sins and rose again from the dead to give us eternal life.