06 Apr Faith Must Keep On Increasing

Wherever you go you will see traffic sign that will tell you what€™s the speed limit is, whether it€™s 60km/hour, 100km/hour, etc. Traffic sign is there to remind us that there are regulations on how fast we are supposed to go.

We need to be reminded about certain things in our lives. Today I have come to remind us about a very simple word that we know and even sing about, faith.

After the disciples heard Jesus€™ teaching, they responded by saying, “Increase our faith!” (Luke 17:5).

Why did the disciples ask Jesus to increase their faith?

“Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. So watch yourselves. “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”” Luke 17:1-4

There will come a time when you will face problems. If our brothers or sisters sin against us and repent, Jesus didn€™t say think about it, but He said forgive them.

The testing you face today will not stay the same tomorrow, your test will increase! Every test along the way will get harder and harder. This is why the words of the disciples are important to us: “increase our faith”.

What is faith? Faith is conviction, confidence, trust, believe, reliance, trustworthiness, persuasion.

The Bible in Hebrews 11:1 says that faith is “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (NKJV)

Are you more willing to trust God than to trust anything that this world has to offer? Do you trust God more than your bank account, your job or your education? That€™s the place that God wants us to arrive at, that is willing to hold on the Word of God than anything else in this world.

Our faith is our evidence that what we cannot see with our eyes is more real than what we can see with our natural eyes.

Romans 10:17 says “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

You cannot have faith in God without the Word of God. You got to have a steady diet of the Word. The Word has to be part of your daily life.

Physically you fed yourself, spiritually have you fed yourself?

How to increase our faith? Romans 12:3 “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.”

Every one of us have faith, the question is what are you doing with it. Faith comes as “standard equipment” to everyone.

Use it or lose it. That€™s what will happen to our faith, unless we use it, we will lose it. Use what God has given you!

Faith can be found and increased in the Word of God. Faith can come by looking to Jesus Christ.

“Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2 (NKJV)

The word “looking” is a compound word made from 2 words. The first part of the word is “away from” and the second part is “to see”. Away from in order to see; what does it mean for us? The Word is saying to us, look away from everything else, in order that we might see Jesus. Looking unto Jesus! The idea is to get a focus on one person, that is Jesus.

Jesus is the author and the finisher of our faith.

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6

2 Corinthians 5:7 “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”

We walk in the confidence of our God. We don€™t walk by what we can see and not by what the world has to offer.

Galatians 5:22-23 talks about the fruits of the Spirit.
Living a Christian is not just for me, but for others. We live to benefit and bless others. Jesus himself said that He comes not to be served, but to serve.

Faith that is ever increasing and the fruits of the Spirit working and living in us and through us!

There is another aspect of faith, that is the gifts of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:1-11).
God has faith for us that will go beyond the realm of anything that you can imagine for yourself if you are to learn to live in an increasing faith, walking with God.

I want to conclude by reading to you a testimony of David€™s faith – read Psalm 91.