Faith Toward our Lord Jesus Christ

God the Father, of whom are all things, and for whom we exist. And Jesus Christ the Lord, by whom they planned to create spirit beings first, then to create the physical world, and then to create human beings with the ultimate purpose of us human beings to be the begotten children of God in God's ruling kingdom family. They planned all this. And in the process of planning, God has delegated this great mission to create members of his family in the kingdom of God.

He delegated this responsibility to Jesus Christ, the I AM. So the Father delegated that. And the plan for this would require for us to have free moral agency. Why? So that you and I could make our own choices. Why God makes choices. And why? So that we would always learn the lesson to make the right choices.

That we would freely learn that lesson. The choice being that the way of love, the way of love towards God and towards each other is the only way that works. And so, he had to create a training round for us to have the opportunity to learn. To learn this lesson. To learn through bad choices. Which is the best teacher in the sense experience. Now you and I have children, or most of you have children, some of you do not have yet, but God willing you will.

And you know that sometimes you have to allow the children to make some choices. And you and I know that sometimes they're going to make the wrong choice. But you're there to guide them and protect them and guide them and lead them the correct way. But we have to allow that freedom of choice so that our children mature and grow. Likewise, God had to create an environment for us to go through the same learning experience.

Regrettably, though, bad choices would sometimes mean sinning. Not every bad choice sometimes is a sin. There's some bad choices that, you know, maybe you just chose to go on the wrong road, you know, and you get a traffic jam. But there are other bad choices that lead to sin. And the wages of sin is suffering, pain, and death. And therefore, the Father and Jesus Christ knew that that would happen sooner or later to everyone. And so they had to create a way to buy us back from death because God's law would not be changed. God is a law-abiding being, and we are to be law-abiding beings.

So the law could not be changed. And so the penalty of sin would have to be paid. But you and I could not pay for it because we're already dead. We could not bring ourselves back to life. So it required that the very being, under the authority of the Father, that the creating under the authority of the Father, pay with his own life.

And so Christ had to become flesh and die for us. And the Father would then resurrect him, and thereby opening the way for mankind to become members of God's family. So the purpose, once again, that God, the Father, and Jesus Christ, the Son have for us, is for us to learn lessons. So obviously we need to be teachable.

We need to be meek and teachable and humble. But in that learning process, we would learn that there are wrong choices, and we would learn to avoid those choices to a point that we would never want to do the wrong choices again, on the way of striving towards perfection, in the words maturity. Perfection, that is, to willingly choose the right and have the character and the strength of will to do what is right, regardless. In other words, to have the character and the desire to follow God's law of life.

So, yeah, we see the Father and Jesus Christ created a road for us to enter into the kingdom, in words, into his ruling family. And the fundamental process of that road towards maturity is described to us by Paul in Hebrews 6 verse 1. So if you turn with me to Hebrews 6 verse 1. Hebrews 6 verse 1.

He says, therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary, of the basic principles of Christ, let's go on to perfection. Our goal is to be always striving and aiming and working towards perfection. That's where we're going to go. Perfection. But he says, not laying again the foundation of the basic steps on that road towards perfection, which are repentance from dead works, faith towards God, baptisms, laying on our hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. There is a laid out process, which, by the way, which parallels God's holy days. The first two steps, which, by the way, look at as you look at them, they go in pairs. The first two, which is repentance from dead works and faith towards God, are essential. First two steps. In a previous sermon on the series of fundamental doctrines, I have covered already the repentance from dead works. My purpose today, brethren, is to discuss the second step, which is faith toward God. What is faith toward God? If you turn with me to Acts 20, verse 21, we see that Paul is giving instruction to the ministry in Ephesus, as he's leaving them, and he's saying to them that he's going to be leaving. They're not going to see him again, but he explains to them how he has been committed in testifying to the Jews in verse 21, and also to the Greeks repentance towards God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. So, based on this verse, I've entitled this sermon, faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. So, we need to have repentance towards the Father and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ, as it says, yeah. But the word faith is misunderstood in the world today. What is faith? Some believe that faith is just believing and just keep going as you are. In other words, they contrast faith with obedience. They don't see that faith requires obedience. They put the two on two opposite corners. They then say that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. But he has the question, what is faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ? Amen, Lord. So, remember when Christ said to people in the sermon on the mound, you call me Lord, Lord? Let's turn to that in Matthew 7. Matthew 7. And that is in verse 21 through 23. Matthew 7, verse 21 through 23.

Nor everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven. So, just because people say, Lord, Lord, or Jesus, Jesus, does not mean they will enter the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God.

Who do we call Lord? We call Lord those whom we follow. He's the master. He's the Lord. Those to whom we obey. In other words, our faithfulness and loyalty must be towards our Lord, whom we are to obey.

And so, Christ says, yeah, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of the Father, of my Father, in heaven. That he oboves God's will. Many will say to me that, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? Have we not cast out demons in your name? And there are many wonders and miracles in your name. And then, I'll declare to them, I never knew. Depart from me you who practice lawlessness. Depart from me you that break the law.

So we ought to have faith towards Jesus Christ, but Christ says we ought to obey the Father. That's obey Christ, which is obey the Father, because that's what he told us to do. And we know that only through Christ is salvation possible.

So how is this possible? Possible. It is because we have absolutely trust in Christ, and we want to do what he tells us to do.

And because we trust him, and we do what he tells us to do, he will then do the rest and apply sacrifice as our eye priest, and will therefore lead us into the way of salvation. And that is what faith is. Faith is to trust Christ. Faith towards Jesus Christ is to trust Christ.

And in the end, that's what Christ and God are. They are faithful beings. They are faithful beings. When they say, yay is yay, and when they say no, he's no. When they say they're going to do this, they do it. Why? Because they're faithful. And so Christ came and died for us. He was faithful in what that plan he had promised to do. And because of that, he wants us, and the Father wants us, they both want us, to learn to be faithful. In other words, full of trust and doing faithfully what are we told we're going to do? Look at in Old Testament in Jeremiah 17. Jeremiah 17, verse 5 through 8. It says, If you and I trust other people, sooner or later other people are going to live as done. It's a fact. And therefore, curse is a man that makes flesh his strength. In other words, if we rely on the strength of other man, it's not going to end well in the end, whose heart departs from the Lord. Why? Because our heart must be trusting God, not man. If that man trusts God, then we're going to be able to trust him. If he trusts man, he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inevitably watch places in the wilderness in a salt land which is not inevitable. Conversely, blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord. Blessed is the man that has absolute faith in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree plodded by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when the heat comes, but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit. Our trust must be in the Lord Jesus Christ, must be in God, because the Lord Jesus Christ and the Father have the same faithfulness and loyalty and the same plan and the same goal for us, and they are faithful, and therefore we're going to trust them. God is our source of strength. Indeed, the main example of a human being that was faithful is none other than Abraham, the father of the faithful. So let's look at Abraham's example of faith, and we see that in Genesis 15. We start in verse 3. Then Abraham said, Look, you have given me no offspring. Indeed, one born in my house is my head. Now Abraham was 85 years old. Ten years earlier, when he was 75, he was told that out of his descendants there will be a nation. But he had no children. Now he was 85 years old. He says, Well, he's going to be out of my servant. In verse 4, And behold, the word of the Eternal came to him, saying, This one shall not be your heir. But one will come from your own body shall be your heir. One will come from your own body, Abraham.

Then, Abraham did works according to that trust. He trusted that, and he acted according to that trust. He believed that. He trusted that. He had faith in that, and he fully acted accordingly. But what's more, God told him, Look now towards heaven and counter-stars. If you are able, number them. We live in cities today. We don't see too many stars at night. But you go on to some area away from the city in the dark night, and look into the sky, and it is just beautiful, full of stars. And he said to him, So shall your descendants be. And verse 6, Abraham believed in the Lord, and God then accounted to him for righteousness.

Abraham now was 85 years old. He still had to wait another two years. He had to wait another, what, 15 years, till he was 100. And his wife Sarah was 90 years old, when they actually gave birth to Isaac.

But he believed. He trusted in God that that would happen. And he acted according to that trust, not doubting. In other words, he acted on that conviction of truth. He acted faithfully. And because of that, he is the father of those that act because they trust in God. He is the father of those that act because they have confidence in God. And because of that trust and confidence in God, that trust and confidence in God, that faith was granted to him as righteousness. Even though he may have been imperfect in some of his actions. Therefore, faith, this trusting confidence in God, makes God consider a person righteous, even if he or she has some shortcomings in between. But God considers that person righteous because that person has got a teachable trust. And God with that teachable trust can bring that meek person over a period of time to maturity to perfection. And therefore is granted to him as righteous.

So the word faith and the word belief are basically similar words. In Greek, it's actually the root word is the sign. Belief is pistil and faith is pistis, which are basically the same word. Belief is committed to one's trust or place confidence in, and faith is conviction, trust, confidence. And that's why you read in Hebrews 11 when it says, what is faith is the substance of hope, is evidence of what's not seen. In other words, because you have that hope, and because God said that there is enough for you, and you are convicted, that will happen, that is it. That is enough, because God said and God is faithful, that is enough. You don't need any more. That's faith. That is absolute trust in God. It's a substance of that hope. Is the evidence of what's not seen yet.

Therefore, a true Christian acts faithfully because he's convicted of the truth of God's Word. And therefore, his teachable, his moldable, his clay, malleable clay in the potter's hands, trusting faithfully the potter, that ultimately he will become perfect. And look how Paul described this in Romans chapter 4. In Romans chapter 4, Romans chapter 4 verse 13.

It says, we'll start in verse 13, and we'll go on to the end of that chapter. For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abram or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. It was imputed to him because he believed, because he trusted. For if those who are of the law are heirs, that belief or trust is made void. And the promise made of no effect. Because the law brings about wrath. Why? Because we all have sinned. And the wage of sin is death. For where there is no law, there's no transgression. Yeah, if there was no law, there would be no sin. For instance, if there was no law to say that in this intersection you've got to stop at the red light, if there was no such law, then you don't have to stop. But if there's a law there, if there is a traffic light, you've got to stop. But if there was no traffic light there, then there's no no transgression. So he says, when there's no law, there's no transgression. But because there is God's law, and God's law is the law of love, and if we break that law, the wages of it is sin. The law brings wrath. Why? Because we all have sin or sin sooner or later. Therefore, this righteousness is of faith, that it might be according to God's grace. God's graciousness, desire to give us his kingdom. Is the Father's desire to give us his kingdom? So, that the promise might be sure to all the seed. Not only to those who are of the law, not only to those that are directly, for instance, of that descent, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, that believe like he did. Who is the Father of us all? The Father of the faithful. Verse 17, as it is written, I have made you a father of many nations, in the presence of him whom he believed. God, who gives life to the dead, and calls those things which do not exist, as though they did. Because when God says that something's going to happen, it will happen, even though it does not exist yet. It can make it happen. Well, contrary to hope, in hope. In contrary to hope, in hope. Abraham, contrary to hope, in hope. What do you mean by that? There was no hope for a woman of 90 years old to have a baby. She had passed that stage of life. So, when Christ told her, well, you're going to have a child, oh boy, I've already passed that stage. No wonder she smiled and laughed, because it was contrary to hope. But in hope, they believed, and act according to that trust. So, contrary to hope, in hope, believed. So that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken. So shall your descendants be. And not being weak in faith, not being weak in that trust, excuse me, not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body already dead.

Obviously, it's not physically dead, but the capability of begetting children was already dead, but God made it alive, since he was about 100 years old. And the deadness of Sarah's womb, because she was not years old, but God made that alive. And therefore, he did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief. It was through lack of faith. Remember the word belief or unbelief is the same word in Greek, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God. And being fully convinced, in other words, the confidence, the trust was convinced, God said there's no need to doubt. Fully convinced that what he, God, had promised, he, God, was also able to perform. And therefore, and therefore, because he trusted in God, because he believed in God, it was accounted to him for righteousness. Even though he had certain frailties or weaknesses, but it was granted to him in righteousness.

Verse 23, now, it was not written for his second loan, but it was imputed. It was not written for his second loan that it was imputed to him, but also for us. So, it wasn't just for him, but for us to learn a lesson. Because God is assigned to all. So, if God does that to Abram, does the same thing to us. God is faithful. So, it shall also be imputed to us who believe, who absolutely trust God in him, who raised up Jesus, our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and he was raised because of our justification. As we are in the sermon, Christ was tempted like we are. He had the same difficulties as we do, but he was faithful. And we need to follow those same steps of faithfulness. Look at another scripture in the Old Testament, and that's in Abacak. Nahum, Abacak, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah. So, Abacak.

Chapter 2, verse 4.

Be all the proud. His soul is not upright in him, but the just shall live by his faith. The just shall live by faith. Faith in Hebrew, that word, there's also got an implication of state fastness. State fastness. Stick to it the words, steady hands. In other words, faithfulness.

Unswerving loyalty to precepts. One that is faithful, one that is steadfast, one that does what is right, regardless. And that's why we're told in scriptures like for instance Matthew 24, 13, it says, endure till the end. We're going to be steadfast. We're going to be faithful till the end. We're reading the letters to the churches in Revelation chapter 3, for instance. It says, endure till the end. We're going to persevere, endure till the end. We're going to be faithful till the end. So for the just, believe is not just believe and do nothing. For the just, believe is do something about it, faithfully till the end. One of the scriptures or one of the scriptures is the one that is the one that is the one that is the one that is the one that is the one that is the one. One of the scriptures or one of the letters of the New Testament that talks very clearly about the value of faith and works together is the letter of James. So let's go to James chapter 2. James chapter 2.

In James chapter 2, we read verse 20 through 24. It says, James chapter 2 verse 20 through 24. But do you want to know, oh foolish man, that faith without works is dead? But in other words, you want to know that trusting without some action to prove that you actually trust is dead? Think about it. Think about it.

Think about the example of Noah. Noah was told that it was going to be a flood. And that was something like 120 years before. And then it took a hundred years to build that ark. Now that requires some trust. For one, it wasn't an area where everybody was sneering at it. Nobody believed him. But he absolutely believed in God and he acted according to that belief. Imagine if he says, well, I believe that is going to be a flood. Oh well, but I'm not going to do anything. Well, God says, build the ark. Oh well, what for? I believe that is going to be a flood. But he acted on that belief and he built that ark. So it's continuing in verse 21 when he now uses the example of Abraham. Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? Now think about it. When he was 100 years old, he'd already been promised for 25 years that he would have a son. From 75 years old to 100. Finally he has a son. His wife is now 90 years old. The son grows up. He's now a teenager or a young man. And now he's told, let's say he's 20 years old. I don't know what age he was. If I probably study it, I probably will find out. But he was probably somewhere late, teen or early, 20 years old. Now you tell this strong young man, come. Let's go and offer a sacrifice. And where's the goat or the lamb? Oh, well, God will provide. Now he's got a few days, one Abraham to think about it, and to have doubts. And so has Isaac. Now, Abraham says, now lie down here and I'll tie you up. Now, if you were a 20-year-old young man, what are you going to tell your dad? Hey, come on. You're not going to do that. But there was a question of trust, both of Abraham and of Isaac. And when that knife comes out, and before he was told, stop, it required absolute trust. Because God had said, through Isaac, all these children would come. How could God do it if he was going to be killed? And then God said, no, don't do it. Now I know. I know, and I know, that I know. I know your heart. But not only Abraham's heart, Isaac's heart, too. So it says here, verse 22, Do you see that faith was working together with these works, with Abraham's works? And by works, by his action, in absolute confidence and trust, was that confidence and trust, that faith, made perfect. And the Scripture says, was fulfilled, which says, Abraham believed God and was accounted to him for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God.

You see then, that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. The two work together, because the works back up evidence, the trust, the confidence.

They work together. And so, the faith is demonstrated by the works. And when you and I demonstrate to God that degree of confidence, then God considers that person righteous, even if that person, even if you and I, have some shortcomings. Because God knows that with that teachable trust, he can bring that teachable person, that meek person, to perfection over time.

Let's now go to Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11, just a few pages back, which is the faith chapter. You can see a pattern here in this chapter, where it says, by faith, so and so did x, y, z. By faith, by that absolute confidence and trust, so and so did a certain action. Look for instance, verse 4. By faith, Abel did something. Look at verse 5. By faith, Enoch did something. Look at verse 7. By faith, Noah. Look at verse 8. By faith, Abraham. Look at verse 11. By faith, Sarah did something. And so it goes on. Look at verse 20. By faith, Isaac did something. Verse 21. By faith, Jacob did something. Verse 22. By faith, Joseph. By faith, Moses did something. By faith, it goes on. All these people, even the harlot of Rahab, and it just shows that all of them acted on their faith. They acted on their faith. Faith starts with Abraham, which is the father of the faithful, and it was embraced by merely other faithful men and women in Old Testament.

We have to walk from faith to faith. We have to walk in faith, from faith to faith. We have scriptures in Old Testament that we are told to live by faith, as we've seen some. But look, for instance, Romans 1 verse 16. Romans 1 verse 16.

Romans 1 verse 16. It says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. I am not ashamed of the good news of what Christ has done for us. For it is the power of God to salvation. For it is the power of God to salvation. To everyone who believes, who has trust in this action. For the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For in it, for in this action, of the good news of what Christ did for us, is the righteousness of God revealed. That He shows us grace through Christ's own living of His own life for us. And this is revealed from faith to faith. From trust to trust. We believe, for everyone who believes, but the very trust of Jesus Christ. That Jesus Christ had the trust in the Father because the Father said He would resurrect Him. And so, Jesus Christ, because He trusted the Father, He did those actions. So it's from faith to faith. And because we trust, our trust grows. When you trust somebody, and that comes through, that trust becomes bigger. And it grows from faith to faith. As it's written, that just shall live by faith. We've got to live by faith, and that faith has to grow. We've got to do what we need to do regardless, because we trust in God. Look at Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 35-35. Hebrews 10. Therefore, do not cost away your confidence. Do not cost away your trust, your faith. Don't let it go, because that is great reward. For you have need of endurance. You have to be steadfast. You have to be faithful till the end, so that after you've done the will of God. Regardless, you've got to do it. Don't lose confidence. You may receive the promise. For yet, a little while.

And he who's coming will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith. But if anyone draws back, if we lose confidence, if we lose the faith, and we just draw back, we're not faithful till the end. If we draw back, my soul has no pleasure in me. But if you and we are not of those who draw back to tradition, but we are of those who believe we have faith till the end, to the saving, to the ultimate end result, which is the saving of our lives. Yes.

Brethren, trusting in God and having absolute confidence in Him is critical for our salvation. That's why it says, repentance from it works, and then faith in God, faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. We've got to have that faith and trust in God, the Father and the Son. We've got to trust and move forward. And that's why we read in scriptures like Matthew 23, 23, when Christ is talking to the Pharisees, he says, the weightier matters of the law are justice, mercy and faith. Justice, we've got to do what's right. We've got to show mercy to others. In other words, we've got to have forgiveness and love, and we're going to walk in faith, in absolute trust. Have you considered that it says it's the weightier matters of the law, which means faith is part of the law?

Why? What law? Faith, in a sense, is keeping the first command. Because faith is putting God first. And not other gods but God. So when you have faith, you have absolute trust in God, and you put God first. You trust in Him in everything. You trust God completely. You follow His instructions faithfully and fully. And that's exactly what Christ did. Christ followed the instructions of His Father. Because when Christ came to earth, He acted in faith of the Father. And because of Christ's faith, we are justified.

This is important. You and I are not justified because of my faith. Because otherwise it would be my works, my own great faith, which is useless. But Christ's faith, because it's from God, is what justifies us. Is what makes us right. Because He's faith. He died for us. He gave His life. He gave His blood for us. And that's what makes us justified. Look at Galatians 2, verse 16. Now, I want to go through a few scriptures here, which talk about the faith of Christ. And I deliberately want to go through these scriptures because, in some of the modern Bibles, it's not transcribed that way. And it is important that you highlight, that you have a note, that these scriptures talk about the faith of Christ, as it is seen, for instance, in the old King James Version. So let's look at Galatians chapter 2, verse 16. It says here, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of law, but by faith of Jesus Christ. Now, I know some of your Bibles probably say faith in Jesus Christ, but you are not justified by your faith in Jesus Christ. You are justified by the faith that Jesus Christ had, the faith of Christ. Therefore, because of that, he paid the penalty for us, and therefore he justified us. So he's justified by the faith of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Christ. Yes, we believe in Christ, but we're justified by his faith. Then we might be justified by the faith of Christ, as it should be, and not by works of law. For by works of law, no flesh shall be justified. Let's do another example. Galatians 3, verse 22.

But the Scripture says, confined all understand that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. The promise of eternal life that is given to us because we're justified by his faith, and his faith is the one that opened up the possibility for us to be justified. You and I cannot be justified by our own faith. Look at Romans chapter 3, verse 22. Romans chapter 3, verse 22.

Romans 3, verse 22. Even the righteousness of God through faith of Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe. This is, it's through the faith of Jesus Christ to us who believe. See, so it's the faith of Jesus Christ that makes it possible. Look at Philippians chapter 3, verse 9. Philippians chapter 3, verse 9. And that, and to make all see what is a fellowship of, I beg your pardon, Philippians, and I'll just turn to Ephesians, sorry. Philippians chapter 3, verse 9.

And be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith of Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith. By faith that came faith of Christ. So it is, it is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith, which is the faith of Christ. That's how we are made righteous. And look at Revelation chapter 14, verse 12. Revelation chapter 14, verse 12. And here is the patience of the saints. And as we live in this end time, and we see these things happening, we have to have patience and wait patiently. And here is our patience. When we are patiently wait, even though all these things are happening around us. It's the patience of the saints. Here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus Christ. The faith of Jesus Christ, he had to go through because of his steadfastness, and he had to do, and he had to give up his life for us. Therefore, those that only believe have it backwards. They say, all just believe, you don't have to abide. And therefore, their confidence is presented as a product of their own belief. But even Jesus Christ gave the glory to the Father. So faith toward God is a complete trust and reliance on God's promises and His instruction, which is demonstrated by our faithful obedience to Him under all circumstances. This is the example of the faith of Jesus Christ, and you and I need to have the same mind as the mind that is in Christ, as we read in Philippians 2 verse 5.

Turn with me to John 6 verse 66, please. John 6 verse 66. John 6 verse, I think upon the 63. John 6 verse 63. It is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are Spirit and they are life. You and I, for us to have life in the kingdom, we need the mind of God. We need His Holy Spirit, and the words of Christ are Spirit and they are life. By us drinking in God's words and God's promise, we get more of that trust. We learn more of what pleases God, and as we obey Him, because He gives His Holy Spirit to those who are obeying, Acts 5.32, as we do that, we have more of God's Holy Spirit. So how do we bowl that faith? For one, we need to listen to God's Word. We need to drink Him of God's Holy Spirit. We need to drink Him of God's Word. Look at Romans chapter 10 verse 16 and 17. Now it says the same thing, but in different words. Romans chapter 10 verse 16 and 17. Romans 10 verse 16. But they have not all obeyed the gospel. Yeah, they don't obey. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our report. They don't obey. They don't believe. They don't obey. They don't trust. Verse 17. So then faith, trust, confidence in God comes by hearing. Comes by hearing the truth, by hearing the gospel, and the hearing. You and I hear a sermon and hear messages like that are encouraging. They come from the Word of God. So as you listen to messages that are based in the Bible, that are sound biblical instructions, you and as you study the Bible, as you drink Him of God's Word, you grow in faith. And you obey, and as you obey, you receive more of God's Holy Spirit, you receive more of God's mind, and you grow in faith. There's an interesting example in Luke chapter 17. In Luke chapter 17, I'm going to start in verse 5. Luke chapter 17 in verse 5.

Luke 17 verse 5. The apostles came to Jesus and said to Him, increase our faith.

Now, as Christ being asked, increase our faith. Now, it is important for us to draw from Christ's answer, because He gives the answer how we can increase our faith. And look how He answered. He says, and so the Lord said, if you have faith as a master seed, you can say to the smallberry tree, be pulled up by the roots and be planted in seed, and it would obey you. And which of you, having a servant, plowing or tending sheep, will say to Him, when He has come in from the field, come at once and sit down to eat. But will He not rather say to Him, prepare something for my supper, and good yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk? And afterward, you will eat and drink. Does He thank that servant because He did the things that we have commanded him? I don't think so. So likewise you, when you have done all things which you are commanded, say, we are unprofitable servants, we have done what was our duty to do. Christ answered the question how to increase our faith. How? Because He said, if we have absolute trust in God, we will go over and beyond our call of duty. We've got to do what needs to be done regardless, over and beyond our call of duty, willingly and eagerly. And then God increases our faith because of that willingness and eagerness to go over and beyond our duty. You see, it's by doing and by doing it beyond our call of duty.

So we've seen that this physical life is a training round, an opportunity for us to learn. The goal is for us to learn to always choose the right and to be perfect like God is perfect. For that, we've got to repent from dead works and we've got to have faith and absolute trust in God in moving forwards and doing what He tells us to do. We've also seen that it's not just belief, but it's actually obeying, act steadfastly because we trust in God. And so true faith is a complete trust and reliance on God and is our faithful obedience to Him in all circumstances, regardless. It is demonstrated by works and therefore God then considers such a person righteous, even though you and I may have some shortcomings, because we have a teachable trust and God can bring that teachable meek person to a perfection over the period of time that he alots us.