A FIRM FOUNDATION
Wednesday – April 4, 2018, Nisan 19, 5778
Greetings and welcome back to this faith building, foundation building Bible Study. God is so very good! We are about to embark on a very exciting journey through what is commonly called the “Faith Hall of Fame”. I for one want to be in the “Faith Hall of Fame”, the exercise of faith and the doing of exploits in the name of Jesus is not near done. Let’s take a moment and read aloud our primary text.
Hebrews 11:1-4 (KJV)
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
2 For by it the elders obtained a good report.
3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
The first verse of this exhilarating (making one feel very happy, animated, elated or thrilling per Oxford Dictionaries) chapter tell us that faith is the foundation of the things for which we hope. First let’s take a look at the word “faith” and then we will move to the word “substance”. According to Strong’s Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary this Bible faith is to be fully persuaded, to give full credence to, to have a conviction about, reliance in, assurance of, and/or a belief in (edited). Later in this chapter we find that it is impossible to please God without faith (vs 6). Faith in God and His Word must be unequivocal, completely free of doubt. When we entertain doubt concerning God and His Word it is a double mindedness, it is a partaking of the knowledge of good and evil. For faith to work we must be free of doubt and have absolute confidence in God’s Word.
Mark 11:22-24 (KJV)
22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
This does not involve an exercise of natural faith but of supernatural faith, the same faith as God. God’s faith in us was activated at salvation and the infilling of the Holy Spirit. After all, if you think about it, faith is not much use without the Holy Spirit. I am talking about being baptized with the evidence of speaking in tongues and thereby endued with the Power of God (The Blessing). Also, factor into this equation that Jesus said He did not say anything the Father didn’t say, He didn’t do anything He did not see the Father do, and the Father did the works. So, looking back at Mark chapter eleven we see that we must speak to the mountain (problem) not to God, we must tell the problem what to do, we must not doubt in our heart (thinking), we receive it as done, we must believe what we say will come to pass, and it will come to pass. A major reason for prayer failure is that we are asking God to do things and we have never spoken to the problem. He has given us ALL authority, declared His will, and given us His very own Power to back up the authority. Our responsibility is to issue the command, His responsibility is to then respond to our faith, absent all doubt and cause the change. So, faith is our unwavering belief in God and His Word (really all the same thing). Our faith is the foundation upon which our hopes rest and the Kingdom of God moves forward. The word “foundation” from our text is the Greek word transliterated to English as hypostasis according to Strong’s Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary. If you break this word “hypostasis” down into ‘hypo’ which means beneath and ‘stasis’ which means not to move you can see that faith is the unmoving foundation of things hoped for.
Now, let’s take a moment and look at the “things hoped for”. You may recall that I have pointed out on more than one occasion that the word “thing” can also generally be translated as “word”. We use words to paint a picture in our minds and the minds of others including God. The thing hoped for has a name, a word, and so we are hoping for the performance of our word or words. In this creation when God said light be, those words became a physical reality. Notice He did not ask for light, He commanded light, He did not doubt, and light was. Same thing He told us to do. When we exercise our God given authority according to the will of God without doubt He will do it. First God and then Jesus gave us ALL authority. With that in mind God does not have a legal right to speak to the problem, however when we speak, He will do the work. Bible hope is far different than natural hope. Natural hope is full of uncertainty however Bible or spiritual hope is nothing but certainty. As I conclude for today, notice that the end of verse one says that faith is the evidence of the things not seen. Recall, that James tells us that faith without works is dead. The works is an acting upon that faith. Let’s say you are led of the Lord to speak to an illness in a person, you actually have to speak to the illness in the name of Jesus with all boldness without wavering, the person must receive that word and act upon it. God willing, I will pick up right here tomorrow.
Until our next publication, I speak this Scriptural prayer for your life right now, receive it in the name of Jesus, confess it, and walk it out with thanksgiving.
2 Peter 1:2-4 (KJV)
2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
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