The Work of Faith

When God created Adam, he was natural and natural was good. After he disobeyed God and ate of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil however, natural became sin. To be born and shaped in sin now made one natural and a sinner. But God had in Christ a plan of redemption; He knew that though man was natural now God was going to redeem man unto Himself. I want to lay a foundation on why the Word of God is written in such a manner as it relates to Faith. Perhaps if people understood why the Word is written the way it is then they would more readily receive the true definition of Faith and not what man has created it to be. People want to think that Faith is about believing God for houses, husbands, wives, cars, land, a better position on their job, higher education or even finances. They do not want to accept what Faith really is. Christ did not hang on a cross and suffer all the whips and lashes so that we would be prosperous in the material things of this world. I imagine that it is an insult to God that His children would believe that all He has to give them is what the world has enjoyed for years. It is an insult to God when His children can justify being lazy and not working to get the things of the world. They feel they can pray and use “Faith” to obtain what the “working” man gets. God does not justify laziness; this is the lifestyle of a thug. A thug will not work but will steal from somebody else who has. We are waiting on God to take the wealth of the wicked and give it to us through “Faith”. What if God says, “Work for it.” God did not take a word such as “Faith” to now justify laziness. This is not the heart and mind of God. The Word of God was written to edify and strengthen the spiritual man. If that which is to edify is polluted with a natural principle then that which it fills is going to be polluted. For example, if you eat spoiled food eventually you will be sick to your stomach. Therefore, if you are reading the Word of God through the lust of the flesh you are trying to incorporate someway for your flesh to be satisfied. But the Bible was not written to your flesh. On the contrary, the Bible will tear down the influence of the flesh that the Christ in you might be built up. There are no provisions for flesh in the principles taught in the Word. It is written to a spiritual creature. The Word tells us,

St.Matthew 16:24

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. The Word of God also says,

Philippians 1:29

For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;

The enemy redefined “Faith” so the Body of Christ began to search and seek after the things of this world and felt as if God had ordained them to do so. The Body of Christ will never stand up in the fullness of the statue of the man Christ as long as they have an erroneous perspective of “Faith.” The man Christ was given over to the will of the Father and that is what made Him powerful. Let us go further into defining Faith.

Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

This is where the pollution of Faith came in. The flesh defined the word “hope” as something in the natural they could “hope” for. For instance, “I am hoping for a car or a house.” We saw the word “hope” and gave ourselves a right to think and want just like a natural man. Then we looked at the word “things” and thought it meant to “hope” for the natural “things” in this world. Faith is the substance and substance is the essential part; it is the real thing. We do not need Faith to tell us there are some cars or houses in this world that we want . . . those things are readily seen. But the Word of God is not written to us as though we are natural men. When we received salvation we were on route to becoming one with the Father until the teachings we received became tainted. We were heading to the Spirit but someone told us it was all right to “hope” for “things”. Hence, we took a u-turn and began, once again, to walk as natural men. We left our pilgrimage as Sons and began hoping, looking and grasping for the things of this world. The enemy became successful in having the children of the Father, heirs of the Kingdom of God, focusing on the beggarly things of this world. Regardless of how we see ourselves or want to be seen, God and His Word deal with us from a spiritual standpoint. We may desire to be seen as though we are weak and frail but the Bible says we are more than conquerors(Romans 8:37)

(Colossians 2:10) we are complete in Christ

(2 Corinthians 5:17) and if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature

We often say, “God understands,” or “God knows my heart.” We use these clichés as if when we say them God is going to bend and compromise that which He wants from us. Men have died horrible deaths to please God and we think He is going to compromise when it comes to our mere vapor of an existence? NOT SO! The devil has a campaign to turn us back to “our” lives and he is using the message of “Faith” to do so.

Romans 8:24

For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?

Hebrews 11:1

says Faith is the evidence of things hoped for. What are we hoping for? We are hoping for salvation. Faith is the substance of our salvation.

Romans 8:25

But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

If we hope for that which we do not see then with patience we wait for it. We have yet to receive our reward. We have not received all that is due to us and in this life, clothed in this mortal body, we will not.

1 John 2:25

And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.

1 Corinthians 15:53-54

53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

The above are the things that no man on this earth has ever seen. But because the Father has loved us and made us the heirs to His kingdom, promised us these things in His Word, this is our reward. The sons of God must come to the realization and acceptance that our reward is on the other side. Preachers are trying to bribe people into salvation by putting the reward in this life right now. If we are honest with ourselves and what the Word tells us, we will see that our reward will not come in this lifetime. Our reward for denying ourselves, suffering in this flesh, mortifying the deeds of this body and being holy will not come in this lifetime. Look at your own life. Have you ever been in a situation where you denied your flesh? You knew you humbled yourself and fulfilled righteousness yet no one may have noticed or saw the life of Christ? You received no accolades other than knowing the Father will reward you in the life to come. It takes true faith to believe that if you live right, then you will be rewarded when you take off this corruption and put on incorruption. Sons of God must be perfected in patience. If we are patient we will be able to walk this walk. Impatience will lead us to sin and dishonoring our Father.

Romans 5:1-4

1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:

There is joy in Christ Jesus but there is also a joy that comes with tribulation. If there is no tribulation we will not become patient sons. God allows tribulation to teach us how to be steadfast as sons. He does not build us on false pretenses. We will learn to wait as Christ waited. If we cannot wait on that which God has promised then we do not believe Him. If we have experienced God then just as He quickened our body, He can fulfill anything He has promised to do. Based on the experiences we have already had with Him, hope is produced in us! But we would not feel this way if tribulation was not a part of it. It allows us to prove that the excellency of the power is not of us, but of Christ. God did not give us Faith for us to be natural again. He gave us Faith that we might have an experience with God. Through the experience, hope will be gendered for the rest of the promise. Faith is the essential part and God has put that in us. He knew it would be hard to obey His Word without a Comforter so He has put the Comforter on the inside. God gave us His best when He gave us the Holy Ghost! Unfortunately, as we watch Christian broadcasting, a strong majority of the teachings have us grasping for the things of this earth without any teaching on the Kingdom of God. There is no motivation for the sons of God to enter into the Kingdom. There is a campaign for the sons of God to get everything else but a holy life. No one is ministering that the sons of God can be holy. People are dying in their sin while preachers fail to even minister righteousness. They have taken that thing that God meant for good and corrupted it. When Jesus came His whole conversation was about the Kingdom. Every time He spoke it was about the Kingdom. His defense was of the Kingdom. When Nicodemus came to Jesus by night and began to give Him praise Jesus’ reply was . . . Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God (St.

John 3:3).

Christ campaigned for the Kingdom to be preached. He knew we could get a house, car or even be healed from sickness, but still die and go to hell. His objective was to get mankind back into the Kingdom. Christ campaigned that we might know the Kingdom. In ministering to the disciples Christ said,

St.John 14:4-5

4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?

What Thomas did not realize was that he and the other disciples knew the way because they KNEW CHRIST and He never pointed them to anything but the Kingdom.

St.Matthew 7:14

Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Because this gate will not allow any fleshy desires, yet much tribulation, few find it. All that is in this world is lust and vanity. How dare we allow the devil to come into the midst of the doctrine of Christ, using the scripture on faith as a tool to divert the Body of Christ away from God. The devil perverted the doctrine of Faith to turn us away from God. This is why Paul said, Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ (Colossians 2:8).

If we leave a church service after a message has been preached and there is no check in our spirit about the urgency to ensure our soul is right, the minister has missed the mark. If the preacher did not cause us to consider where we will end up if we should die, it was just vain babblings. It was vain meaning empty, void, and without godly influence. The whole Bible was written that we might consider eternity. God did not put Faith in the Bible to steer us away from considering our souls. On the other hand, everything in this world is intended to distract us from the real purpose of why we are here. GOD FILLED US WITH HIS SPIRIT SO THAT THE DESIRES OF HIS HEART MIGHT BE FULFILLED. God did not save us so we work our agenda first, then we please Him. That would make us God and Him the servant. God does not compromise and we are not going to cause Him to change just for us.

St.Luke 17:20

And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:

No man can see with the natural eye that substance that was received at salvation. The birthing into the Kingdom of God cannot be seen. The Father took the best part of Himself and placed it in us by Jesus Christ! He gave us that substance which is the Holy Ghost. This is that Comforter that He said He would give which would settle us, fortifying us. We can be steadfast and unmovable when the flesh begins to suffer and persecutions seem to become unbearable. That Comforter is the essential part that also keeps us in remembrance of His promises. Faith was given that we would have an experience with God. Faith can carry us in the midst of any trial, where the natural man would never make it through in peace. We can have joy in the midst of adversity and tribulation. If we stand in the faith of the scriptures we can wait with patience for the rewards that are not seen and can never be achieved by a natural man. Let us therefore walk worthy, seeing past the things that this world has to offer; but rather as Sons of God always looking up for the total fulfillment of the promise. WE CAN TRULY REJOICE IN THIS HOPE! Your Servant in Christ, Apostle Mike