John 20:29 (NKJV) Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.
It is easy for us to revert to “seeing before believing” and want physical evidence to substantiate what we believe. Many of us are like Thomas who would only believe something when we can experience it physically because we have all been trained that way, but Jesus said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed”. This captures the essence of what faith is, and how we should operate in our walk of faith.
We should not be moved by what we feel, hear, or see but stand firm on what we believe. God will grant believers His grace unconditionally, but while the devil cannot stop His grace, he can stop us from accessing it by attacking our thought life and trying to get us to doubt and eventually stop believing. As soon as we start to doubt, we have already been defeated and stopped from accessing God’s grace. He will cause us to revert to believing what we are seeing, reading, and hearing instead of focusing on God’s promises and His Word because faith comes from hearing the Word of God.
Luke 7:7, 9 (NKJV) Therefore I did not even think myself worthy to come to You. But say the word, and my servant will be healed…..When Jesus heard these things, He marvelled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, “I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!”
Jesus also talked about the importance of trusting and having faith in His Word of promise in Luke 7:7-9. Jesus marvelled at the Centurion’s faith and told us “great faith” is to believe in His Word. The Centurion believed that if he, being an officer, had power in His word to command his soldiers to carry out an order, Jesus being the Son of God would have the authority to make things happen based on His spoken Word. The Centurion understood the power of Jesus’ Word and had faith in the Word. This is the kind of faith that God is looking for—believing that if He has spoken, it is done.
Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV) Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Faith must be established on God’s promise and a personal Word from Him because our faith will waver if we act without a Word of promise from God or assurance from the Holy Spirit. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Therefore, what gives substance to our faith is the Word that God has spoken to us personally.
Sermon Series: A Steady Walk of Faith with God
先相信，然后才看见
约翰福音20:29 耶稣对他说：“你因看见了我才信；那没有看见就信的有福了。”
对于我们来说“看见了才相信”是容易的，我们想要有实物证据来证实我们所信的。我们许多人像多马一样，只有当我们亲身经历了才会相信，因为我们都受过这样的训练。然而耶稣说“那些那没有看见就信的人有福了”。这抓住了信心的本质，以及我们应该如何行在信心里的方式。
我们不应该被我们感觉到的、听到的或看到的所动摇，而应该持守我们所相信的。神会将祂的恩典无条件的赐予信徒，魔鬼虽无法拦阻祂的恩典，但牠可以籍着攻击我们的思想和试图引起我们的怀疑和不信来拦阻我们进入祂的恩典。一旦我们开始怀疑，我们就已经被击败, 无法进入神的恩典。因为信道是从听道而来，牠会使我们从专注于神的应许和祂的话语上转去相信我们所看见，所读到的和所听到的。
路加福音7:7-9 我也自以为不配去见你，只要你说一句话，我的仆人就必好了…耶稣听见这话，就希奇他，转身对跟随的众人说：“我告诉你们：这么大的信心，就是在以色列中我也没有遇见过。”
耶稣在路加福音7：7-9谈到信靠和和相信祂带有应许的话是多么的重要。耶稣对百夫长的信心感到希奇，并告诉我们 “大的信心”就是相信祂的话语。百夫长相信，既然他作为一名官员有权力用自己的话语指挥士兵执行命令，那么身为神子的耶稣也有权柄根据祂所说的话使事情发生。百夫长知道耶稣话语的大能，并且对这话语有信心。这就是神所寻找的信心类型 — 相信若祂说了，事情就成就了。
希伯来书 11：1 信就是所望之事的实底，是未见之事的确据。
信心必须建立在神的应许和祂给我们的话语上，因为如过我们没有神应许的话语或圣灵的印证就开始行动，我们的信心就会动摇。信就是所望之事的实底，是未见之事的确据。因此，神亲自给我们的话语就是我们信心的实底。
讲章系列：信心植根于神的话语中
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