Your Faith Can Be Seen

[Gary Antion] Enough levity and lightness, it's nice to be with you. An account in Mark 2:3-5 will give us insight into this sermon today. Let's take a look at it. Mark 2:3-5, and I've got all my scriptures. They're all New King James. They're all quoted in this paper, so I don't have to turn back and forth, and I can speed through a lot faster with that. 

Mark 2:3-5 "Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men," for Jesus to heal. "And when they could not come near him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was," Jesus Christ. "So when they had broken through and let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying," what was Jesus Christ's remark? "When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, 'Son, your sins are forgiven you.'"

The Savior of all humankind said He could see these people's faith. So faith may be seen. Yeah, I thought faith was something you thought in your head. Faith was something that you held. But our faith may be seen, just as Jesus and others saw the faith of those men trying to bring their infirm friend to be healed. What did they do? They didn't stop. Oh, there's a crowd, well, let's just go back. We can't get through this crowd. Oh, we can climb up on the roof. And they had thatched roofs at that time or whatever they could pull back that's so hard and let him down. And they did all of that because they wanted Jesus Christ to heal him. And when Jesus saw that, He said He saw their faith. Your faith also may be seen by God and by others.

So let's study this topic in the remaining time and see how our faith may be seen. What does it take for your faith to be seen? I thought faith was something you just held in your mind and perhaps in sometimes your actions. And we'll see those are two keys. So in the body of this sermon, let's take a look, first, and see what faith is. What is faith? We don't have to look far. We don't have to find some newfangled belief. The Bible tells us what faith is and expounds it. So what is faith? We'll find that in Hebrews 11:1-3. 

Hebrews 11:1 We read this. "Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." 

Faith is the substance of the I hope for something, oh, I already have it. No, I don't. But faith is like the substance, I know I'm going to have it. That's because of confidence. That kind of faith, "I know I'm going to have it." Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. When we talk about faith, we talk about unseen factors. It involves, I don't have it yet. That's why I believe I can have it. I don't have it yet. That's why I hope for it. I have two bottles of water here, one here and one here, okay? I don't have to say, "I sure hope I can have some water. I sure hope I can have some water." Well, there is water, so I don't have to hope anymore, do I? It's already here. But if I didn't have it, I could be coughing and huffing and puffing. And somebody notices, they can bring me some water. But I don't have it yet. I sure hope somebody notices I'm coughing and sputtering. Faith, it's what we have, what we believe, and there's an unseen factor. It's believing in that which we cannot see. 

Hebrews 11:2 Notice, "For by it," by faith, "the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God." 

I didn't know the worlds were framed by the Word of God. God gave the Word, and it was framed. How long did it take to frame it? I have no idea. How long did it take for God to make one bird of different color, different size beak? Could it hop or just has to fly everywhere it goes? How long did it take? But by the Word of God, it was made. It was framed.

Hebrews 11:3  "So that the things which are seen were made not of things which are visible." 

You can't see. I can't see it. I remember one film that I saw from Moody Bible Institute when I was a freshman in college. And when this one man, he was able to put on these type of glasses that enabled him to see out into the colors that are there, that we just can't see with our normal eye. And it was phenomenal. It was beautiful. It was fantastic. So when God says, "Eye has not seen nor ear heard, neither has entered into the heart of man, the things I've prepared for them that love me," you know what? When we're made Spirit beings, and I hope that's your goal to be in the Kingdom of God, be changed in a moment, the twinkling of an eye. You will have eyes that will be able to see. Just like Jesus Christ could see the intent, the attitude of the heart of these individuals and say, "I saw their faith."

Verse 6. In fact, faith is so important. It's number three. One of the big three that the Apostle Paul enumerates in 1 Corinthians 12 before he comes to the love chapter. He enumerates the big three, faith, hope, and charity or love. The big three. One of the big three is faith. And by the way, if we don't have faith, we won't be able to know God. If we don't have faith, we cannot be saved. We have to believe the eternal God who gave His son on our behalf. And we have to believe in that son who is given for us. And we have to accept Him who is given for us. So when we talk about faith.

Hebrews 11:6 "Without faith," verse 6, "it is impossible," Hebrews 11:6, "it is impossible to please Him." 

We can't please God if we don't have faith. Why? Because it takes you seeing beyond what you can see. It takes you believing upon...I didn't see God write the Bible. Did you see Him write the Bible? Do you know what His handwriting looks like? It doesn't look like this type in my Bible. I don't think. I don't know. Maybe that's what it looks like. They want to know somebody's handwriting. They wrote this. They check it out. You can tell by comparing handwriting. I don't know what God's handwriting looks like. I guess if I had been in that Moses' day, I could see the original Ten Commandments written in stone. Maybe that was God's finger. Maybe. Because it says by the finger of God. Maybe I could tell then, but I don't see that. How do I know God wrote the Bible? Faith. Belief. But reasons, not empty faith. Reasons to believe.

Do you know God exists? How do you know God exists? Well, we have evidence God exists. He says the things that He's made show His eternal power and glory. But can you see God? Jesus said nobody's seen the Father. Spirit beings cannot be seen unless they manifest themselves as Jesus did after He was changed. So it takes faith. Without faith, it's impossible to please Him. "For he who comes to God must believe that He is." And each one of us may have reasons why we believe God exists. And you better stick to them. And you better make sure that's correct in your life. Because someday you'll be challenged. No matter what. Difficult circumstances. I can't believe God let Timmy die. I can't believe that God let that happen. I can't believe that God wouldn't save this person.

I can't believe God would allow that baby to suffer. I can't believe... You have to believe. There's only one way you can go with faith, and that's belief. But you have reasons. And you can't make God do anything. If every time I prayed to God when I was sick, He would help. Every time I could get to an anointed cloth or an elder to anoint me when I'm sick, I would never die. I would always make sure I wrote in and asked for some extra anointed cloths. In fact, when I was a trainee, I used to carry anointed cloths with me. Because I couldn't anoint yet. I wasn't authorized. So I would carry anointed cloths that were already anointed by several elders getting together and praying over those cloths. I would carry them with me. In case somebody got sick. In case somebody needed it. So I could help them.

If every time it's foolproof, I ask God to heal me, He has to do it. No, He doesn't. He said, "I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious." I don't deserve healing. I would like to have it. But I don't deserve it. I don't deserve Jesus Christ, but I love to have Him in my life. So do we, we all. Faith. He says, "You must believe that He is, and that He's a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." Diligently seek. Are we part of that group? That diligently seek. So faith then, may be seen by what we do with our beliefs. If I believe this, do I do it? If I believe the seventh day is the Sabbath, but I keep Sunday, I'm not doing what I believe, am I? And my understanding will be darkened. A good understanding have all they that do what they know His commandments. And if you don't do what you know, your understanding will stop right there.

We have to believe, and we have to practice. We have to leave what we have. Faith may be seen by what we do with our beliefs. Let's take a look at one great example, and that's Abraham's. Abraham's faith in Genesis 22. We'll take a little bit of time here. If I need to skip over some other scriptures for those who are doing the interpreting, I will do so. But Genesis 22:1-12. And by the way, the word for faith, pistis, P-I-S-T-I-S, in the Greek, 4102, in the Greek, you can look it up. It has to do with a lot of different things. It, actually, is translated in many ways: faith, belief, trust, confidence. Its usage...it's translated most of the time, faith or faithfulness. But it also conveys being persuaded. I am persuaded. That's why I believe. I believe I'm persuaded of this. How am I persuaded? I learned. Persuaded, why? Through prayer. Persuaded in what way? Through understanding, through practice. We as individuals have to have faith.

Genesis 22:1 Let's take a look. "Now, it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, 'Abraham.' And he said, 'Here I am.'" 

In fact, that is used a lot. Yes, sir. I'm here. It's like taking attendance at school. It's one thing I get in my crossword puzzle, easy crossword puzzles. Let's say, what's one word to say here? I just wondered that here, you know, that's called your name. So Abraham, he says, "Here," I mean here I am. Verse 2. "And he said..." And by the way, Abraham knew God's voice. Please do not take this because you thought you heard some sound that tells you to go do something crazy. Don't ever do it. Don't think that's God or an angel talking to you. Don't think that. Because they knew. Abraham knew God. He talked to Him several times. He knew what God's voice sounded like. It wasn't some apparition. It wasn't some dream. He knew God.

Genesis 22:2-3 "And so God said to him, ‘Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love,’” whom God blessed. God blessed Sarah to be able to bear in old age. And told him, "Yeah, take him, but throw the other one out. I mean, let the other one go, Ishmael. I'll take care of him too." But this is the son of promise. I promised you a son. I didn't tell you when. I just promised it. And here he is. But, now, I'm asking you to give him up. "...whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I shall tell you." Verse 3, it says, "Abraham arose early in the morning."

You know, humanly, carnally, if it were me, I'd say, I've got to sleep in today. I've got a long journey ahead of me. I think I'll take my time. Maybe God will change His mind. Maybe God will change His mind, and, you know, okay, let's pack carefully. Now, I don't want to pack too quickly. Let's pack all the wood, and let's pack the matches. I don't know if they had matches. Let's pack the flint. Let's pack what it takes to make a fire. Let's get some rope or whatever we need to tie the creature down. Let's do all that. Hopefully, then God got a chance to change His mind. But He didn't do that. 

Genesis 22:3-8 "He rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, took two of his young men with him, and Isaac, his son. And he split the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day, Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said to his young men, 'You can stay here with the donkey. The lad and I will go yonder and worship.'" And remember, what did God tell him to do? "Go and kill him." Notice Abraham's response. "'Stay here with the donkey. The lad and I will go yonder and worship. And we will come back to you.'" We will come back. "So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, laid it on Isaac, his son, took the fire in his hand, and a knife, the two of them went together." As they're matching, well, Isaac thinks this is a nice father-son outing. "But Isaac spoke to Abraham, his father, and said, 'My father.' And he said, 'Here I am, my son, yes.' And he said, 'Look, here's the fire, here's the matches, here's the wood, where's the lamb?” Where's the lamb? What are we going to offer? “Then Abraham said, 'My son, God will provide.'" 

You know what Abraham knew? He knew one of the royal names of God. Jhvh-Jireh. J-H-V-H, the tetragrammaton, dash-J-I-R-E-H. It means the Lord will provide. It's one of the great names of God. 

Genesis 22:8-9 "'My son, God will provide for Himself a lamb for the burnt offering.' So the two of them went together up to the mountain. Then they came to a place which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there, placed the wood in order, and he bound Isaac.'"

Now, by this time some say Isaac could have been a 14, 15, 16, maybe 18-year-old, maybe even a little bit older. They vary in age. He could have said, "Wait a minute, Dad, what are you doing putting this rope on? What are you doing tying my hands? What are you doing tying to lay me on this altar? Are you going to sacrifice me?" So we can see the faith of Abraham must have been transmitted somewhat to his own son. 

Genesis 22:9-11 So Abraham put him, "And he bound his son, laid him on the altar, and upon the wood. And Abraham," before he was going to burn him up, "he stretched out his hand, took the knife." Oh, you know what, God, I need to sharpen this knife a little bit more. He humanly, carnally. Abraham didn't. "Took the knife to slay his son, and the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, 'Abraham, Abraham.'" 

The angel of the Lord sometimes could be the one that became Jesus Christ. Could be. Sometimes it's used as Angel of the Lord, and it's just an angel of the Lord. Sometimes it means Jesus, the one that became Jesus Christ. The God of the Old Testament. 

Genesis 22:11-12 "The Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, 'Abraham, Abraham.' And He said, 'Yes, here I am.' 'Do not lay your hand on the lad or do anything to him, for now, I know you fear God.'" Abraham was put to a supreme test. Now, God will never tempt you and me by putting some type of a temptation in front of us. But, boy, this was a supreme test. Here's the son whom he loved very much. A gift from God to him, that he was willing to give back to God in death. "And He said, 'I know, since you have not withheld your son, your only son from me.'"

And then they later caught an animal. There was a ram over there. They saw. They grabbed it and offered that. Hebrews gives a further account to the same thing. Hebrews 11:17-19. We find Abraham believed. That's why he did this. Notice. And notice what he believed. "By faith…" 

Hebrews 11:17 "By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. And he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son. Of whom it was said, 'In Isaac your seed shall be called.'" This is the key to me having progeny and future. But notice what Abraham concluded. "Concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead." 

Because he knew God. He believed God. He trusted God. He had confidence in God. And he was persuaded that God would never do anything to him or for him that was not in the best interest of all.

And so he said he knew He was able to raise him up, even from the dead. "From which he also had received him in a figurative sense." Because both Abraham and Sarah were dead to having a baby. And yet God gave them a child. Ninety and 100. So we find that faith is entwined. Not only with what we think but what we do. And those two aspects are the real key. Real keys, I should say, to how you show your faith. So I'll ask you again. Ask me again. Do we show our faith? Can our faith be seen? Can others see our faith? More importantly, does God see our faith? Notice in the chapter beyond, in the chapter 11, it says, "Abel," what did he do? Or beginning of... Abel offered a sacrifice by faith. By faith, Enoch pleased God. He did what God wanted. Noah by faith built an ark for 120 years.

You think about it. Here's a gigantic... You've got to cut down the trees. You've got to turn them into lumber. You've got to make them into usable lumber. You've got to put that lumber in the right place. You've got to build that thing to carry the ark. And by the way, the ark is not far from here. At least a model of it in Kentucky. A hundred and twenty years. And all these people carping and griping at him. And saying to him, "What are you doing? There's no water around here. Where are you going to float this monster?" God says, "I'll give you water. I'll break up the water underneath the earth. I'll flood the earth. You'll have water, plenty of water." Jacob by faith blessed his twins. He knew that God would do them good in the future.

Joseph by faith made plans for his bones to exit Israel. Moses, by faith, and his family by faith, hid him. Moses by faith chose Israel and slavery over the pleasures of sin. Which if you've seen the movie, "The Ten Commandments," they portray according to history, that Moses was a great champion, a great champion in Egypt. And he gave that all up. To stand in the mud pits. Why? Because he believed. Moses forsook Egypt and passed through the Red Sea. I don't know about you, but seeing walls of water, dry ground, and seeing an army right behind me, of Pharaoh, an enemy army, that would really test my faith. But they marched through.

Rahab by faith hid the Israeli spies. She wasn't even an Israelite. What did Rahab do? Rahab hid them. She said, "Stay here. I know your God. I've heard about your God. I believe what He could do. I believe He's going to come here and rampage through this country. And when you come through, please remember me. I believe you will be victorious. So please save me." I'll put this little identifying thread in your window. And when we see that, we will bypass and not ransack that home. So Rahab had faith. Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets all did exploits. So we can see the first dimension, and I'll cover it again more specifically. How can people see our faith? By what we do.

Do you believe something down to your toes, or you just believe it in your heart? Is what you believe in your head only, or does it go down to your toes? I hope it goes down to your toes because your toes are the means of walking and doing. I hope. I hope for me. I hope for you. So by these examples, we can see faith needs to be accompanied by deeds. Now, there are two kinds of faith. Two kinds of faith. One, and faith is believing. That's one thing. We used to have two booklets, by the way, in the old days. One was called, "What Is Faith?" Talking about believing what you cannot see. And then we had another one called, "What Kind Of Faith Is Required For Salvation?" And that is called living faith.

What's the difference? One, says, I know. The other one, says, I do. To have living faith, you must know and do. I know and I do. Another way of putting it is, one is active and one is thoughtful. One is active and one is thoughtful. I know and I do. One is intellectual. One is active. It's not just what you think. There's a lot of people who think, "It's just what I think." No, it's not what you think only. If you want to be saved, the only salvation, the only faith that you can have to be saved is not, I know. It's I know and I do. You won't know what to do if you don't know it. But it's got to go beyond just what you know in your head. That's why people can see our faith. So James 2:18, let's look at this explanation by the brother of Jesus Christ in James 2:18. What kind of faith is needed? It's living faith. Living faith. James goes on to talk about this living faith. 

James 2:18 He says, "But someone will say, 'You have faith,'" that's intellectual faith, "'and I have works.'" That's doing. You have faith and I have works. And he says, "Show me your faith without your works." I can't see your faith. Where is it? Show me it. It's only up here. "And I will show you my faith by my works." 

What you believe as a Christian needs to translate into your entire life. Isn't that what having the law of God written in our hearts is all about? Do I carry the Ten Commandments in my wallet? It's the second year. Now, I'm not sure if I should steal this or not. Let me pull out this... See, oh, yeah, that's the number seven written in here. "Do not steal." Okay, I shouldn't steal. Or is it in my heart? Is it in my being? It's in my being.

Why? I've been trying to practice this for over 60 years, this way of life. Have I been perfect at it? No. That's why grace of God covers me. When I sin, I repent, and I ask Him to forgive me, and He forgives me. Because I started at baptism, when I said, "I don't want to be this old man anymore." Sometimes the old man overcomes the new man. Not completely, but at times. And when he does, I've got to repent. But I don't have to be re-baptized because I already buried the old man. Sometimes the old man influences the new man more than it needs to. It's a battle. 

James 2:19 Paul said, "Fight the good fight of faith." We have to fight. We have to keep on doing. But he says in verse 19, James writes, "You believe that there is one God, you do well." See, if you believe in God, that's a good thing. You believe in God. He said, "You do well. Even the demons believe and tremble." 

Demons don't just believe in God, they know the power of God. And they're afraid of it because they know they're on the wrong side, which they chose to be on. 

James 2:20 He said, "But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?" 

If you tell me you have faith and it's only intellectual and not actual, it's dead. It's right there in your head, and that's all. And you can do a good argument with people. I know some people who got our literature. They said, "Could you please send me this article because I have some of these people coming by, and I'd like to have a good argument with them. And your literature provides me with the means to provide a good argument." That's what you do with intellectual faith.

I sure know this. Do I do it? No, I don't do it. But I can tell you which day of the Sabbath it is. Do I keep it? Well, no, but I can know which day it is. I can argue with you why you keep Sunday. Faith is what we need. We have to have it. We can't please God without it. We can't be saved without it. But it can't just stop with just the thought. It can't just stop intellectually. It's got to translate into our actions. So when I see a person diligent, faithful, honest, fresh-faced, I say, there's a person that's trying to practice God's way of life. They're learning God's way. But if I see a person who's out of control, out of this, I don't think that person's practicing God's way of life. It is important for us to know the difference. 

James 2:21 He goes on to say, "Was not Abraham our father justified by works?" Whoops, I don't think you should be able to work. You can't be justified by works. That illustrated his faith, justified him. Notice what he says. He said, "Was he not justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works, faith was made perfect?" 

Because if I know something and I practice it enough, I'll do it right. I'm using it. I hate to have people say to me, I have faith. Do you use it? Do you use your faith? Is faith evident in your life? Is it evident in my life? It has to be. It's the only way we'll be saved. 

James 2:23-26 "And the Scripture was fulfilled, which says, 'Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.'" Because his belief led him to do what God asked him to do. "And he was called a friend of God." He understood God. He knew Him. He knew what faith was. "You see then that a man is justified by works and not by faith only." Takes both. Intellectual faith and actual faith. Actual faith is putting into practice what you believe down to your toes. "Likewise, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she sent the messengers, received them, sent them out a different way, she hid them? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."

 Now, we need to be aware that in religious usage, somebody says, "What is your faith?" You can use the scripture, 2 Corinthians 13:5. He talks about examine yourself whether you be of the faith. It doesn't mean whether you have faith. It means do you believe this set of beliefs? Do you believe what you're being taught by your church? Many will say it's synonymous. What is your faith? Oh, my faith is Methodist. What is your faith? Oh, my faith is Catholic. What is your faith? My faith is Presbyterian. What is your faith? That's one way it's used.

Secondly, it's used as a faith of your own. You had to have a minute amount of faith to follow what you heard. When I first heard Herbert Armstrong, I didn't like him. I would have run away from it. I wanted to turn it off. I did not want my brother to listen. He was older than I was. He had the radio on his side, so I couldn't stop it. I tried to outrun it, and I couldn't do that. The words followed me down the steps. I didn't want to listen, and I did, I tried to block it out. But we as individuals have to believe. I started to believe a little bit, but I didn't believe strongly. It started to affect my intellectual because I could see truth is truth. When you discover truth, that's why it says people who know truth cannot be deceived. Those who are real Christians cannot be deceived.

Oh, they could succumb. Why could they succumb? Because they're not strong enough in their faith and practice. But faith, a little bit on your own to bring you to and say, "That makes sense. That sounds good. That sounds right to me." Is that the faith that will save me? Absolutely not. Faith that will save me has to come from God. So there's a faith of your own, and you can read that in John 8:29-32, where Jews who were plotting to kill Him heard Him speak, and it said many of them believed Jesus. But then it goes on to tell you that even though they believed Jesus, John 8:29-32, Jesus said to them, "I'm glad you know that. You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." But he said, "If you follow the truth, you will be my disciples indeed."

You can't just think about it. You can't just say, "Well, that's a good point you have there." Listen to that little discussion point, "Well, that's a good point. No, no, you got a good point." No, no. God's point is right all the time. Not my point. God doesn't need my point. He hopes I understand His point. So practice is very important. And then the third one that I just want to talk about the ways faith is used is the faith of and from God. The faith that we need to be saved is faith of God and from God. Eight different translations translate Mark 11:22, when they were at, a disciple said, "How can we cast out this demon?" He said, "Have the faith of God." It's translated in many translations faith in God. Because that's easy. The faith of God is the faith that God gives. The faith that God gives is a gift. It's the gift of faith. It's one of the products of the Holy Spirit being in your life. Faith. Faithfulness.

Having faith is an absolute necessity, but it's the type of faith that God had and that God gives you through the Holy Spirit. That's the faith that enables eternal life. Faith of your own only leads you to it. Faith that you believe in, that's your set of beliefs of the Church. The faith that we need is the faith from God. Eight translations put it faith of God, faith from God, faith with God, but it's not faith in God. A lot of the other translations are just faith in God, just believe. And that's what a lot of people say, "Just believe. Just believe and you'll be saved." That's real easy. One person may talk to another person on his dying bed and got him to say, "I believe in Jesus." He said, "Now, you're going to be saved. You're going to go to heaven because you believe in Jesus. You said it." End of your life you said, "I believe in Jesus," is that all it takes? Don't you have to practice your faith? Don't you have to show that is living faith from God not your own?

James 1:22-25, I'm not going to read it, you can check it. He talks about, be doers of the Word, not hearers only. Because if you're hearer only, you deceive yourself. But he talks about the one who will be blessed is the one who hears and does. So two ways we may show our faith. How? And our faith may be seen. And, again, I don't go around, neither should you go around saying, "Let me show you my faith. Here, today, I'm going to show you my faith." You don't have to do that. Once you are baptized, you have hands laid on you, you receive the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God unites with the spirit of your mind. It gives you a Spirit of power, love, and a sound mind. It gives you that equipment you need. And it gives you the faith of God. Maybe not strongly yet, but it's there. And that's the faith we need for our salvation.

So two ways we show it. We already saw this before, but two things. One will be deeds, which I'll come to second. First one is words. You know, the Scriptures show that by your words, sincerely, truly, confidently meant, by your words, you show your faith. Notice, and one little caveat or one little caution.

 Matthew 7:21 Where Jesus Christ said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the Kingdom of God." Just saying the words, not going to cut it. He said, "Many will say to me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, done many wonderful things in your name?'" And what did Jesus say to them? "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you. I don't know you.'"

See, it's not just words. It's words that are translated and belief that's translated into action. Luke 7:9-10. The centurions' words were accepting of Jesus Christ's authority. And he came to ask Jesus... Jesus said, "I'll come." He said, "Oh, no, no, I'm not worthy. My servant's sick. He's almost dying. Please come and rescue him." And Jesus said, "I'll come." "No, I'm not worthy to have you come into my house." This centurion, this Roman said, "I'm not worthy." He said, "I have men that I oversee. You can oversee illness and sickness, and all you have to do is say the word, and it will be gone. I tell my men to go here, they go there. I tell them to come here, they come here. I'm a man under authority. I know what it's like." He understood. And you know what Jesus Christ said? 

Luke 7:9-10 "When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, 'I say to you, by this man's words and dedication, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel.' And those who were sent, returning to their home, found the servant well, who had been sick." 

Your words, if they're said with sincerity and truth and honesty, your words show your faith. Take another example, Acts 16:29-34. The Philippian jailer. Paul was in prison. He'd been in prison, in the innermost prison. We're told they had told these guards, "Guard these men. These men are rabble-rousers. These men are insurrectionists. Don't let them come free. Guard them." And what happens? At midnight, the earthquake came, shook all the chains off of them. All their doors were open.

I'm sure it wasn't just the earthquake. But then the angel doing all this, and the man sitting there sleeping, I guess he slept through it all. And when his men were out, they were ready to run away. Paul said, "Don't run. Don't run. Don't go." And then the jailer came, and he was ready to kill himself because he thought they all had fled. He saw all these doors open. He felt there was a jailbreak. He'd kill himself. Because if you're a Roman soldier or centurion or guard and you let your man escape, you get the same sentence they would have gotten. And some of those people were in there for murder. So they would have gotten death penalties. So then might as well save the Romans the trouble and kill myself. Paul said, "Don't do it. We're all still here. We're all still here."

Acts 16:30-34 "He brought them out. He came trembling before Paul and Silas, and he brought them out, and he said," here's his words, "'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?'" I want to be like you. You've been praying and talking and lauding God and praising Him in your miserable conditions. You've been doing that all night. And, now, you saved my life, when you could have escaped and all these men? "'Sirs, what can I do to be saved?' So they said, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.'" That's enough everybody. Okay, he's good. So he took them out of prison and then that he could believe. No. He took them to their house, his house, rather. And his family was there. And they taught him the Word of God. It said, "And he took the same... And they spoke to him the Word of the Lord to him and all that were in His house."

Now if He had little babies, He wasn't speaking to the babies. I've visited people with family. Not everybody in the family will understand what I tell the adults. But if they're old enough to understand, they will all understand. The whole household was old enough, therefore, they could be baptized. So, again, "He took them that same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized." Because he asked the right question and he had the right words which indicated his faith and trust. God saw...Jesus saw their faith, his faith.

Matthew 15:21-28 The gentile woman, remember her? She came to Jesus and said, "My demon-possessed daughter needs to be healed." A woman of Canaan. She was a gentile. And Jesus said to her, "I'm sorry, I can't do this." She was crying. And she kept saying, "’Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David. My daughter is severely demon-possessed.’ And He answered and said to her not a word. And His disciples came and said, ‘Send her away. Get rid of her. She's causing trouble. She's a disruption. She cries after us.’ He answered and said, 'I was not sent except to the lost sheep of Israel.' And she came and worshiped Him and said, 'Lord, help me.' He answered and said to her, 'It's not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.' And she said, 'You're right, Lord. Yes, Lord. But even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from the master's table.'" Verse 28, "Then Jesus answered and said to her, 'O woman, great is your faith.'" 

Why did He say her faith was great? Because He heard her convicting statement. He heard her dedicated response, her believing response. "Jesus said to her, 'O woman, great is your faith. Let it be as you desire.' And her daughter was healed from that very hour." Sincere, heartfelt words sometimes show our faith.

The second way, which we've already covered pretty much in the first part of this sermon, is by our deeds. What we do. What we do. In Mark 2, they uncovered that thatched roof to let that man down. They were so determined. He saw that. They believed in Him. They wanted to get near Him. 

1 Timothy 6:11-12 We read this, "But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith." 

That's deeds. We've got to be doing something and living... We've got to show that we believe by what we do. Do we believe? It's not just some empty statement. It's believing and practicing. It's I know and I do. It's intellectual, and it's actual. It's active. That's living faith. It comes from God. Till that time, if you're not baptized, you're not converted yet, ask God, "Help me believe. Help me believe."

Remember the case of the man who said, "I believe," right? Jesus said, "If you believe it..." He said, "I believe but help my unbelief." If I'm missing something, give me some help. Until God reaches out. Now, one other way that we see faith as active is God reaching out to us. It's not anything we do necessarily. He's faithful. In Deuteronomy 7:9, it says, "God is faithful." God is faithful to us. He hears our prayers. It talks about he who believes and is baptized will be saved. In Ephesians 2, the last scripture I'll give you, Ephesians 2:8-10, we read this.

Ephesians 2:8-10 "For by grace you have been saved through faith." You didn't do anything. You believed. But your belief embodied faith, action, and thought. Both. Not just one. Both. "You've been saved through faith and that not of yourselves is the gift of God." The gift of God, that salvation is the gift of God. "Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works..." Remember, works show what? Our faith. "...which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." Amplified puts it this way, "For by grace," it is by grace, "[God's remarkable compassion and favor, drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not of your own effort] but it is the [undeserved and gracious] gift of God." Faith.

What does it take? Can your faith be seen? Absolutely yes. As good lights, remember, Jesus Christ came into the world, He was the light of the world. If we have Jesus Christ in our lives, if we have the faith of God in our lives, we will show by our words and by our deeds, our faith. And, therefore, that faith that we can show will be seen, not only by others but by God Almighty Himself. And so let's, like good lights, let our faith shine forth, glorify God, and let Him lead us by our words and our deeds, reflecting our faith into the wonderful Kingdom of God. I hope you now understand what living faith is. And may we all have it and practice it.