Seeing to Believe is Not Faith
By Pastor Joel – Open Heaven Christian Church – Fisher, Arkansas
Thomas Doubts Jesus’ Resurrection (John 20:24-29)
Key Verse:
“But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.” (John 20:24-25)
Context:
Thomas knew that Jesus had died on the cross and that nails were driven through his hands, and that his side was pierced with a sword because all who were present “SAW” with their eyes what happened to Jesus, and they would naturally base their faith only on what physically took place when Jesus was crucified. They had no proof that Jesus was resurrected from the dead until Jesus appeared to them, all Thomas could think about is that Jesus had died.
All Thomas had was concrete physical “eyewitness evidence” that Jesus had died, all Thomas could believe about Jesus at that time in his life was what all of Jerusalem had witnessed, Jesus died.
Thomas apparently never gave thought about what the scriptures taught about Jesus rising from the dead, and if he did, he struggled in believing that God would raise Jesus from the dead because he wanted physical evidence, this would require true faith in the word of God to believe all that the scriptures taught and said about Jesus being raised from the dead and apparently Thomas was lacking in faith because of his unbelief that Jesus had risen from the dead.
Hosea 6:2 – A Resurrection Scripture Reference that Thomas would have know and heard about.
Key Verse:
“After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.” (Hosea 6:2)
Psalm 16:10 – A Messianic Prophecy of the Resurrection of Jesus that Thomas must have know and heard about.
Key Verse:
“For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.” (Psalm 16:10)
Isaiah 53:10-11 – The Suffering Servant and the Resurrection
Key Verses:
“Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.” (Isaiah 53:10)
“He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.” (Isaiah 53:11)
Thomas based his “Belief – HIS FAITH” only on what he can physical see as evidence to him before he would believe that a miraculous miracle of Jesus coming out of the grave, which by the way has no human logic or reasoning because human logic is based only on what physically has happened.
Many today are just like Thomas, they believe in Jesus but struggle in believing and they limit God and the miracles God preforms through doubt and unbelief by using human logic and human reasoning as their basis to believe what is written in the word of God. They place their faith on everything else but what God has declared in His Word and forget that NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD.
Key Verse:
“For with God nothing shall be impossible.” (Luke 1:37)
Many today are waiting for God to give them “eyewitness evidence” for their miracles in life they so desperately need. Many today pray prayers filled with unbelief then wait for God to answer their faithless vain repetitious prayers. Jesus warned about making “vain repetitious prayers”, Jesus said do not pray using vain repetitious (words) when praying to God.
Key Verses:
“7But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.” (Matthew 6:7-8)
The sad truth is that many brothers and sisters are praying repetitious prayers and do not realize that those type of prayers cannot be answered by God. The only prayers that God answers are prayers spoken in faith, and prayers spoken in faith are answered the moment they are uttered even if you do not see the results immediately because faith does not require physical eyewitness evidence, faith prays and receives what it has asked for when one prays according to the will of God which is the word of God.
Key Verse:
“24Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” (Mark 11:24)
Praying in faith is exactly how Jesus taught the disciples to pray!
Jesus did dot teach the disciples to beg God repeatedly for answer to prayers, Jesus taught FAITH.
Many today are walking by “sight” just as Thomas did, they are waiting for something to change once they see the change. The bible teaches believers to walk and live their lives by faith and not by what they can physically can see with their eyes or touch with their hands as Thomas thought.
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7)
Living by faith is not living by a past or present experience, faith is how every believer should live on a daily basis. Faith should become a natural part of their lives. Believers go from “Faith to Faith” and when a believers lives by faith, their faith will grow as they learn to believe what is written in the word of God!
“For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:17)
Faith gives “substance” to the things we hope for, and is the “evidence” to what is physically unseen with the natural eye. Faith is not needed for what is seen, but for what is unseen with human eyes. Faith is the “bridge to the supernatural” promises of God. Faith is the weight called substance, and it brings forth the things we hope for! Faith is the evidence of what is not seen yet with human eyes.
“1Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)
Look at what Jesus said to Thomas.
“29Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” (John 20:29)
Yes, BLESSED are they that have not see yet believe!
Brothers and Sisters what are you hoping God will do in your life to change your circumstances? Does your life seem like you are being oppressed by an evil force that continues to block your progress in life and in the destiny that God has for you? Are you being tormented with what seems like hopeless thoughts, or events that cause discouragement in your life? Could it be mental or physical sicknesses that are causing you to regress in your faith instead of progress in life and in faith? Maybe you have been praying for years for something to change, but things do not seem to change, or at times seem to get worse? Perhaps you’ve already reached rock-bottom in life and you are struggling in your faith, and it looks like there is no physical way that things will ever get better or change.
I am here today to tell you that Jesus is waiting for faith to be activated in you. Jesus wants to help you in whatever you are going through, but you must come to the knowledge of the truth of God’s word and approach God in faith because without faith none of us can really please the Lord.
“6But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a re-warder of them that diligently seek him.”
(Hebrews 11:6)
The Lord is waiting for all of us to come to our spiritual senses and start thinking the way he wants us to approach Him. None of us can approach God with human reasoning or human intellect, we must approach God by faith in his word and in faith for all of the promises spoken of in scripture.
The word of God teaches that faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the word of God. This is how faith that can change any circumstance in life.
“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17)
When we hear the spoken word of God the Holy Spirit begins to increase our faith. Faith is the necessary shield every believer must take to extinguish every “fiery dart” or arrows that our enemy Satan is aiming to shoot at believers in Christ.
We are told in scripture to “take” this shield called faith in order to extinguish every arrow that the “wicked” – (that is Satan) who is throwing these fiery darts at you. God is expecting you to not only take this “Shield” called FAITH, but to use your faith as a shield to STOP every wicked dart of the devil. Praying or begging God to do something to cause all evil things happening in your life is not enough, God expects YOU to take your shield of faith and quench every fiery dart. Faith is a defensive weapon against the devil and all his demons.
“16Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. (Ephesians 6:16)
Now look at the next verse, God tells believers to take the helmet and sword of the Spirit.
17And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:” (Ephesians 6:16-17)
Not only are we as believers to take the shield of faith, we are to take the helmet of salvation which is what protects our minds from humanistic thinking that requires physical evidence before believing in the promises of God. We are to also take the sword of the Holy Spirit which is the word of God.
Look at what the original Greek meaning of “the word” in verse 17, it makes a reference to a word being uttered and spoken.
Strong’s Concordance: #4487. rhéma
Lexical Summary
rhéma: Word, saying, utterance, matter
Original Word: ῥῆμα
Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter
Transliteration: rhéma
Pronunciation: HREH-mah
Phonetic Spelling: (hray’-mah)
KJV: + evil, + nothing, saying, word
NASB: words, word, statement, things, sayings, fact, message
Word Origin: [from G4483 (ῥέω – To flow)]
1. an utterance (individually, collectively or specially)
2. (by implication) a matter or topic
3. (especially) of narration, command or dispute
4. (with a negative) naught whatever
The sword of the Spirit is—(The Spoken Word of God). When the word of God is spoken, they are the believers “spiritual bullets” used to “resist the devil” and when the word of God is spoken, the words penetrate all darkness and fires directly back at the devil and his demons to seize his operations against your life.
If the word of God is not spoken, then it will not have any effect on Satan because the word of God must be spoken to stop the devil and his demons dead in his tracks.
Many people have the written word of God–(the Bible) in their homes, and many have the word of God in their hearts because they believe what is written in the Bible, but few are using it correctly against the kingdom of darkness to stop all that the devil is doing in their lives and in the lives of their loved ones.
The word of God is a “spiritual weapon” that carries the full power of God and the word of God must be used correctly, it must be spoken in faith. The correct way to use the word of God as a weapon against the devil is that it must have two aspects in order to unleash the full power of the Holy Spirit.
These two aspects must be present in a believer:
The written Word must be in ones heart.
The Word must be spoken by faith to align oneself with the perfect will of God.
Key Verses:
“But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (Jeremiah 31:33)
“But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;” (Romans 10:8)
Jesus defeated Satan in the dessert by speaking the word boldly and accurately against Satan. And after three unsuccessful attempts Satan left because he realized that Jesus was delivering spiritual bullets that Satan could not overcome. Jesus did not pray to the Father for help to deliver him from the temptation of the devil, Jesus simply used the spoken word as a devastating weapon against the devil. Jesus answered the devil with what is written, Jesus released the spoken word of His Father to stop the devil. Jesus quoted what was written in the word and resisted all temptation of the devil and put Satan to flight.
“10Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 11Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.” (Matthew 4:10-11)
Jesus did not make a silent prayer, Jesus spoke with boldness what is written directly at the devil. Jesus exalted the Word above the circumstance of what was happening and it put the devil to flight by speaking what is written, then Holy angels of God came and ministered unto Jesus!
What really happened is Jesus used the spoken word to resist the devil and Satan had to flee. The word of God tells every believer to “resist the devil” and he will flee from you. The only way for any believer to resist the devil is to believe what is written, then speak what is written boldly by faith against the devil and his entire kingdom.
Satan is terrified of believers who not only know the word, but really terrified of believers who speak the word of God by faith as a weapon to dismantle all of the devils “wiles, schemes and temptations”.
The only power that can resist the devil is the word of God. Submitting to God is to submit to his word, this includes speaking the word as a weapon against the devil as Jesus did.
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
(James 4:7)
We are told to put on and wear the full armor of God. No where in scripture does it ever teach to take the armor off. The armor of God includes the shield of faith and the word of God as a defensive weapon to defend oneself from the devil. The offensive weapon that God has given believers is to dismantle and disrupt the wiles of the devil by speaking the word of God against all demonic attacks.
“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:11)
All throughout the new testament we see Jesus speaking the word of God and mighty miracles would take place! Here are a few examples found in the scripture.
New Testament Healing Miracles – Jesus Spoke and His word made it happened:
“And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.” (Matthew 8:3)
“And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean.” (Mark 1:42)
“When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.” (Mark 9:25)
Old Testament evidence of the power of the word:
“For I am the LORD: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord GOD.” (Ezekiel 12:25)
“He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.” Psalm 107:20
“So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)
When a believer aligns with the word of God by speaking and declaring the word of God above any circumstances in life, they are releasing the power of God to change their circumstances. When a believer reads the word of God and does not speak the written promises of God into their lives they withholding the creative power that God wants to send them to change their circumstances.
Many go to church on a weekly basis, they read scripture, sing songs and spiritual hymns, the enjoy great fellowship, but few really understand the power of the spoken word of God. When a new believer comes to Christ they need to be taught the word of God and told to start speaking and make bold declarations of what is written. Many are missing out on the abundant life that Jesus promised.
“10The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)
Satan is devouring the lives of many because they have never been taught about speaking and declaring the promises of God into their life.
“8Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 9Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.” (1 Peter 5:8)
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. ” (Revelation 12:11)
Exercise your faith by speaking God’s word daily, when you do, the devil must flee from you!
Refuse to live your life as a believer in defeat, start speaking the word of God into your life!