Categories:
What Is Faith? What Is Living By Faith?
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SEEING IS NOT BELIEVING
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The Bible has much to say regarding how we can see miracles take place in our lives, how we can receive answers to our prayers, and how we are to actually receive anything from God.
I wanted to look today, into a couple Scriptures which aren’t used very often to teach us this lesson …. the lesson that FAITH is the only way in which we get to see God’s workings in our lives.
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Luke 24
6 He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, 7 Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.
Note: even the angels are encouraging these women, ‘Remember what He SAID” …. In other words, “BELIEVE what He SAID. Why do you need to SEE Him alive? Why can’t you simply BELIEVE Him at His WORD?” Even with these women SEEING the tomb empty, they still didn’t believe Christ’s Words and therefore believe that He was alive … they simply wondered who took the body away. They refused to believe Christ at His Word.
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13 And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. 14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened. 15 And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. 16 But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. …
21 But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. 22 Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; 23 And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. 24 And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not.
Note: The men walking to Emmaus were ASTONISHED at the women’s testimony. They didn’t believe the words, they were simply astonished.
Which leads me to question: Why couldn’t these disciples believe the Words of Christ OR the words of the women’s testimony which lined up with what Jesus taught before He was crucified?
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25 Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: 26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? 27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. …
Answer to my above question: Jesus told them what their problem was. Jesus called them foolish, and SLOW to believe. In other portions of Scripture, Jesus calls people HARD HEARTED and REFUSING to believe..
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Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. 30 And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight.
Note how Jesus did not hang around very long, after their eyes were opened to recognize Him. You see, Jesus was still trying to get them to walk by FAITH and not by sight. The more Believers learn to walk by faith in God’s Words alone, the more mature they will be, and not prone to be swayed by feelings, sight, emotions, or circumstances..
36 And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 37 But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. 38 And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled?
Note: Here we see the disciples STILL not willing to BELIEVE, even as the disciples from Emmaus were presently telling their testimony about how they just saw Jesus alive!
The disciples now have: 1-the Words of Jesus while He was alive, telling them the Son of Man would be raised on the 3rd day, 2-they have the testimony of the women at the tomb, who were told by the angels He was alive, 3-and now the men who were on their way to Emmaus are now giving a third account of Jesus being alive and risen from the dead, and still the disciples present had no joy at seeing Jesus. Just terror. This teaches that if we choose to NOT believe God at His Word ALONE, then even when a miracle does happen right before our eyes, we will be slow to believe or actually refuse to believe.
To SEE first is NOT to believe, as so many like to say.
BELIEVING FIRST ensures that we will SEE – or recognize – God’s miracles and power in our lives!…
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In Conclusion
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John 20
24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 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.
Too many times, this is how Believers feel or react…especially with the Word of Faith teaching.
If they don’t SEE a healing immediately, at the first whisper of their prayer, they REFUSE TO BELIEVE the Scriptures which state God heals ALL our diseases – ps 103:3 – or that Jesus bore all our sicknesses already, in His body on the cross, and that by His stripes we WERE healed – Matt 8:17, 1 Ptr 2:24.
A stubborn refusal to believe God at His Word will not only ensure that one will not see many mighty miracles in their lives, but it can also bring a rebuke from the Lord.
Why a rebuke? Think of how bold it is for any created human to state to the Holy, Almighty Creator of the Universe, “I just don’t believe You”.
And this is indeed what we are saying, when we refuse to believe a Scripture.
Let’s take the lesson from the Scriptures today, and not have to receive a personal rebuke from our Lord. Let’s make sure we don’t have to hear God say to us, “Why were you so foolish in that situation, and hard hearted? Why did you refuse to believe Me at My Word?”
Instead, let’s choose to humbly receive the Word of God, which is able to save us and heal us, and manifest God’s power in our lives daily. Amen.
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Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?
John 11:40
Do not be unbelieving, but be believing
John 20:27
Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief
Matthew 13:58
Later he appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart
Mark 16:14
Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me” … Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief”
Matthew 17:17-20
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