In the past three lessons we’ve been able to establish
Two levels of Faith in God (Heb. 11.3)
Level 1: Faith in His essence (believing that HE IS), that is, in His intrinsic nature and quality which is what determines His character.
Level 2: Faith in His acts (believing that HE REWARDS), that is, He provides, heals, delivers etc.)
And,
2. What faith is, according to Hebrews 11. 1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. The Amplified Bible says, Now faith is the title deed, the confirmation of things divinely guaranteed. The evidence of things not seen.
From this expanded definition of faith, we saw that,
Faith is NOW. In other words, it is a present possession
It is the evidence (just like receipt, teller, title or C of O) you have at present as a confirmation of a transaction that has already been concluded in the spirit.
We noted that the basis of faith (in fact, the substance of faith) are those “things divinely guaranteed by God”. In other words, faith begins when God’s specific promise on an issue is known.
QUESTION 1: Give one thing you are standing “in faith” for. What is the specific divine promise (word) upon which your faith is based. (EVERYONE to participate).
If genuine faith must be based on God’s word,
QUESTION 2: How then do we get God’s word? (EVERYONE to participate)
According to Rom 10.17, Faith COMES by hearing, and Hearing by THE WORD of GOD
For you to hear something, it has to have been spoken by someone or even by you. Therefore the word of God that births faith is THE SPOKEN WORD. The Greek word is rhema.
This does not necessarily mean when you hear the gospel, for example, in a church service but it talks about when the Holy Spirit speaks a word to your spirit man on a specific area of need. This can come through various means: a “knowing” or “assurance” that is hard to explain, a sudden “explosive” insight into a hitherto familiar scripture, a word of prophecy from you or others etc.
QUESTION 3: Share an instance when you got a word that birthed faith. (Everybody to participate)
QUESTION 4: What are the key practices that position us to hear from God?
ANSWERS (after responses to QUESTION 4):
Personal bible study, including other Christian literature. This makes you familiar with the revealed will of God as written in scripture.
QUESTION 5: How important are Christian books other than the Holy Bible in spiritual development
Corporate bible study e.g inspired preaching and teaching in church meetings
Meditation
This is first a VERBAL process before it is a MENTAL process. In other words, meditation involves SPEAKING God’s word to yourself and DEEPLY THINKING about them as you apply them to your situation. This enables you to HEAR and HEAR the word of God as you speak it to yourself REPEATEDLY.
EXERCISE: Get a volunteer to demonstrate meditation for the house to discuss
