April 21, 2004
Hi Everyone!
In the last message I discussed how our faith is activated by our believing
and that true believing is obeying. I would like to continue on from the
last teaching and discuss with you how faith is not only activated through
our obedience, but that it can be increased also through our obedience.
As believers we can move on in our faith walk from the initial "measure"
of faith that we received at the new birth, all the way through to "great
faith".
Our faith is like a spiritual muscle that can be exercised and trained. Like the muscles of a bodybuilder our faith in like manner can grow stronger and bigger. Each believer's faith all starts off the same in God's kingdom, but how far we go will be determined by our faithfulness to the Lord. Lets look again at the dictionary definition of "faithful". Faithful = loyal, trustworthy; true, accurate. The faithful servant of the Lord will be loyal to God, they can be trusted to complete any assignment given to them, and they are not deceitful in that they will always give a true and accurate report based on fact - not presumption.
The Father is looking for faithful followers as Proverbs 20:6 declares, Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, but who can find a faithful man? There are three main areas in our faithfulness that I will mention in this teaching. For our faith to grow we must be faithful in all three of these areas, but before starting I want to remind you that these teachings are not complete. There is much more that could be mentioned in any one of these Pastor's Heart messages. How could one ever exhaust the Word of God, as it is limitless! Most of these articles are what I am ministering at the present time in church but in a condensed format. I don't think anything can replace being in the presence of anointed teaching and preaching of God's Word!
1. Faithful to obey the written Word
As we have been discussing, true faith is obedience to God and His Word.
Because of previous teachings along this line I will move on quickly to
points 2 and 3, but lets first read these verses which are self explanatory.
He who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and
is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed
in what he does. James 1:25
- Blessing promised for obeying God's Word.
They stumble, being disobedient to the Word to which they also were
appointed. 1Peter 2:8b
- We get "ourselves" into trouble when we do not keep the written
Word.
2. Faithful to obey God's voice
Our Father God is always speaking to us through our Lord Jesus and the Holy
Spirit. We must obey His still small voice and the gentle promptings in
our hearts if we are to remain tender and pliable in His hands. Blessings
are promised to the obedient and our faith will grow as a result. But to
harden our hearts and disobey will eventually open the door to the enemy
of our soul, and God's blessings will be restrained.
And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God. Deuteronomy 28:2
But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you. Deuteronomy 28:15
3. Faithful to obey those in authority over
you
I will cover this third step of faithfulness in more detail than the first
two steps, because I have not covered this area yet in our Faith Walk series.
Do you realize God has positioned and delegated people in authority over
each of His children and He expects us to obey them? Well, you may be thinking
right now "I obey God only and not man!" But you must realize
that every time you disobey those whom God has put in authority over you,
you are disobeying the "One" who positioned them there.
Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. Romans 13:1-2
Are you an every soul? Then you are one who God is talking to, hey?
The only time we should disobey authority is if they expect us to do something that is in direct conflict with the written Word of God, and His revealed will to you under His Lordship. Our God is the highest authority and under no circumstance should we disobey His holy written Word, nor His divine guidance that is in line with His Word. I know this submission to authority thing may be a little hard to swallow for some of you, but folks this is the Bible!
For the Lord's sake, accept all authority—the king as head of state, and the officials he has appointed. For the king has sent them to punish all who do wrong and to honor those who do right. It is God's will that your good lives should silence those who make foolish accusations against you. You are not slaves; you are free. But your freedom is not an excuse to do evil. You are free to live as God's slaves. Show respect for everyone. Love your Christian brothers and sisters. Fear God. Show respect for the king. You who are slaves must accept the authority of your masters. Do whatever they tell you—not only if they are kind and reasonable, but even if they are harsh. For God is pleased with you when, for the sake of your conscience, you patiently endure unfair treatment. Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing right and are patient beneath the blows, God is pleased with you. This suffering is all part of what God has called you to. Christ, who suffered for you, is your example. Follow in his steps. 1Peter 2:13-21 (NLT)
Yes we are to obey those in authority over us even if they are harsh and unreasonable. God remains faithful to His Word and He will bless us for obeying it.
Don't repay evil for evil. Don't retaliate when people say unkind things about you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God wants you to do, and he will bless you for it. 1Peter 3:9 (NLT)
God not only wants us to obey those whom He has appointed over us, but to be submissive with a good attitude. We are to serve people just as if it were Jesus Himself we are serving.
Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. Colossians 3:23-24
Who should we be obeying then? The scriptures are clear that not only government authorities, but also the authority God has set up in the home, and the spiritual authority He has set within the Church. Children are to obey their parents. Wives are to obey their husbands. We each are to obey our Pastors, and also the church leaders whom the Pastor has appointed. Employees are to obey their employers, and right on throughout society we are to obey those whom are over us, with a sincere heart and a willing mind.
Let me reiterate once again that under no circumstance should we disobey the Word to obey authority. The Word is our guiding standard. If a leader or ruler asks you to do something that is a sin, you should disobey, but still remain respectful to that authority and have a submissive attitude.
Let me close with an example from the scriptures that Jesus gave us. Here is a man that understood authority. He himself was one in authority with people under him, but he also understood authority. Because he understood this he recognized the authority that rested on the Lord and he submitted himself to it. Because of his submission to the Master he received the reward of his faith with his servant receiving his healing. Jesus commended him on his great faith. Jesus will do the same for you and I, as He is no respecter of persons.
Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.” And Jesus said to him, “I will come and heal him.” The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. “For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! “And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. “But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour. Matthew 8:5-13
Well faithful followers of the Lord, that's it for now.
Until next time may your faith grow exceedingly!
David Pearce
pastorsheart-subscribe@livingwordfellowship.com.au
pastorsheart-unsubscribe@livingwordfellowship.com.au
webmaster@livingwordfellowship.com.au
email@livingwordfellowship.com.au
Faith Grows by...
One day the apostles said to the Lord, “We need more faith; tell us
how to get it.”
“Even if you had faith as small as a mustard seed,” the Lord
answered, “you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May God uproot
you and throw you into the sea,’ and it would obey you! “When
a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, he doesn't just
sit down and eat. He must first prepare his master's meal and serve him
his supper before eating his own. And the servant is not even thanked, because
he is merely doing what he is supposed to do. In the same way, when you
obey me you should say, ‘We are not worthy of praise. We are servants
who have simply done our duty.’”
Luke 17:5-10 (NLT)