Look at Everything with Faith
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September 24, 2017 |
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 Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible" (Hebrews 11:1-3).
Since the opening of the church, I have hoped for things with faith in God and relied only on His Word. As a result, I could accomplish His will and glorify Him. Let's now delve into what we should do to be able to look at everything with faith and run the race of faith more earnestly.
1. We should have spiritual faith rather than fleshly one.
Fleshly faith is the faith that is knowledge stored in the brain. It is also faith gained through reasoning. It is what leads us to believe only in the things that are consistent with our knowledge. With this fleshly faith, we cannot bring down the power of God transcending the limitations of human thought and knowledge nor can we see the work of God by which something is created from nothing and the impossible is made possible.
On the other hand, spiritual faith is accompanied with works and it helps us believe in the creation of something out of nothing. Spiritual faith comes from truth and has the power to drive away the forces of darkness. It can also have amazing power to make the impossible possible.
Sometimes through human eyes, looking at something with faith may look like an act of foolishness like hurling oneself down from the edge of a cliff. That action may seem reckless to those who do not have faith, but to those who have spiritual faith, it is the action of fully relying on God. They can do it because they believe the almighty God.
The Israelites were protected from the Ten Plagues of Egypt. They crossed the Red Sea on foot after seeing it parted into two parts. They drank water that sprung from a rock in the wilderness, and ate manna that fell every day from above. They experienced many miracles performed through Moses by the power of God.
When they arrived at the entrance of the Promised Land, Canaan, ten of the twelve spies who had scouted the land failed to make positive confessions of faith. Their unbelieving professions caused most of the Israelites to forsake faith and complain and groan about God. Thus, the first generation of the Israelites could not enter the land of Canaan as they had confessed, but instead had to see death in the wilderness. Only Joshua and Caleb, who confessed positively with faith, entered the land together with the next generation (Numbers 14:7-9).
The second generation of the people had grown in their faith through the 40-year trial in the wilderness. They fully trusted the words spoken by Joshua, the successor to Moses, and accepted them as God's word. While the first generation crossed the Red Sea that was parted by Moses' faith, the second generation crossed the Jordan River by their own faith and obedience as if they walked on dry land. When they believed and obeyed God's word they conquered Jericho, an impregnable fortress, without drawing a sword. They relied on God and obeyed His word with deeds and gradually they conquered the whole land of Canaan.
Whenever God performed wonders and miracles for them, He told them to first sanctify themselves. It is because God's will and providence cannot be achieved through those who see the reality with fleshly thought. Therefore, we should become sanctified by means of the Word and prayer and rely completely on the almighty God with spiritual faith. Only then can we achieve the providence of God perfectly.
2. We should never think something is impossible.
People often give up something in the middle when they meet with an obstacle that seems difficult or even impossible to overcome with human limited thought. However, those who see with faith do not fear any kind of obstacle, nor are they hemmed in by anything within their own thoughts. So, there is nothing impossible and they never give up. This is the basic attitude of those who have spiritual faith.
When Joshua and the Israelites conquered the Canaan Land, there were obstacles. The kings of each region of the land allied with one another and gathered the troops to fight against Israel. Joshua had to battle against the five kings and their troops in Gibeon. When he conquered the Eastern, Western and Northern areas, he had to face allied kings and their troops. Regarding the number of the troops, Joshua 11:4 says, "They came out, they and all their armies with them, as many people as the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots." Because Joshua saw the almighty God and trusted His promise, he gained victory again and again in God's umbrella.
Therefore, I urge all of you to look at anything with faith without giving up and to show the deeds of obedience so that you can extend the kingdom of God.
3. We should hope for our sanctification with faith.
The God of love believes and hopes for mankind until the end with a desire for all people to be saved and for saved people to grow up spiritually. God has hoped for you first, so now it is your turn to believe that you will become sanctified children of God. As you pray with faith and assurance in entering spirit and whole spirit, keep the Word of God deep in your heart, and show the faith in deeds, you may be able to enter deep into spirit.
Therefore, you should hope for your sanctification with faith. If you are disheartened and give up just because you find fleshly attributes in you, it shows that your faith is not spiritual. Spiritual faith will not be changed nor shaken at all. If you find untruthful elements and fleshly things in your heart in the process of becoming sanctified, you should feel joyous and thankful. It's because it is a great blessing to discover your untruth and throw it away because it leads you to become sanctified. This kind of blessing is given only to those who have made all efforts unceasingly to accomplish sanctification.
The Holy Spirit helps and gives spiritual awakenings to those who try their best to enter into spirit. God gives them grace and strength and leads them to reach the level of sanctification. Meanwhile, if you do not long for spirit or if you think little of untruthful elements in you, or if you don't try your best to change into spirit, you cannot receive such blessings. Such people will just harden fleshly attributes in them following the desires of the flesh.
I urge you to hope for your sanctification with realization that everything is possible with spiritual faith and unchangingly try hard with faith.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I pray in the name of the Lord that you will realize the importance of spiritual faith which is the assurance of things hoped for, believe and obey God, and achieve sincere heart in perfect assurance.
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