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The Warfare Of Faith
September 9th, 2014
Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Recently as I was in prayer the Lord impressed upon me concerning the subject of faith. I have been seeking the Lord about several things lately, and to be honest I haven't yet gotten an answer from the Lord. I realized that I have begun to have doubt in my heart. In fact, the Lord actually called it a stronghold. This was somewhat disheartening. There have been many times in my walk that I have very much identified with the man who cried, "Lord I believe! Help my unbelief!" Mark 9:24b. I have also thought often of the verses of James 1:6-8 "But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave driven by the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." Very humbling words.
As I continued in prayer, I asked the Lord to forgive my doubts and unbelief. The Holy Spirit then brought to my mind a teaching I had recently listened to, that we each have faith from God (Romans 12:3 "...as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith." 2 Peter 1:1 "...to those that have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and savior Jesus Christ").
So the problem doesn't seem to lie in the fact that as believers, we don't have faith, the Word of God says we do. So what then is the problem? The teaching I recalled explained it this way: our faith is like an artisian well, in it's normal state it is flowing continually. But if someone blocked the opening of the well with stones, then at best the water may only slowly seep out, or not flow at all. This is what the enemy does to us, he tries to cover up our well of faith (the stronghold) so there is only a little or even no "flow".
In the beginning of Luke 17 Jesus is teaching the disciples about offenses and forgiveness, the disciples reply to this by saying "Increase our faith!". This statement as a response to the teaching 'forgive your brother' tells me that the disciples knew that it takes faith to forgive! Luke then records "So the Lord said 'If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea', and it will obey you.'" Jesus then goes immediately into a discourse about obedience ending with "So likewise you, when you have done all those things which are commanded, say,'We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.'" A statement which clearly ties having faith and obedience together.
Paul the apostle put it this way; "and I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for Christ's sake." Philemon 1:6. Paul wasn't praying that Philemon would have "more" faith, but that the faith he had would be effective (his well would flow freely).
Jude admonishes us to "contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints" (v.3). The definition of "contend" according to Merriam-Webster is "maintain, assert, to struggle for". This definition implies that there is an enemy that will try to "take" our faith, or rather make it ineffective. Jude goes on in the following verse to describe "certain persons have crept in" but we know that "we do not wrestle with flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12). In other words, if we are experiencing doubts or unbelief, it is not a matter of "not having faith" it is a matter of spiritual warfare over the faith which we have been given!! Paul then describes the "armor of God" but in verse 16 he says "above all taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one". If our faith (shield) is made ineffective then we will be hit with many attacks (fiery darts) despite what other pieces of "armor" we have on.
So what then do we do? "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God" (Romans 10:17). It is more important than ever to stay in the Word of God. Not only do we need to know the Word of God, we need to know The Word Himself, meaning Jesus (John 1:1-4). Colossians 2 says "Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith..."
It is clear that from Luke 17 that if we have unforgiveness and/or disobedience in our lives that it will affect our faith, opening a door for the enemy to make our faith ineffective. If have these things in our lives, we need to repent and seek forgiveness, take those actions which will set matters right (Matthew 6:14-15, Matthew 5:23-24, Matthew 21:28-31) and then we should do as Paul told us "With all prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints..." Jude 1:20 says " But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Spirit..." Clearly there is a connection between praying in the Spirit, faith, and spiritual warfare. We should all keep praying in the Spirit to build our faith, battle in the heavenlies (Ephesians 1:18-23;Ephesians 2:6) and remove the stones covering our well of faith so that it can flow freely!
Of course, there are times that the enemy will come against our faith, even when we do not have unforgiveness or disobedience in our lives. Even so we should "therefore take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything to stand firm." Remember too what James wrote "and I will show you my faith by my works" Every act of love and obedience that we do to and for the Lord is also an act faith!
The importance of faith in the coming days was highlighted to me by the Holy Spirit in this way. In both Matthew and Luke Jesus spoke about the end of the age: "And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so will it be also in the days of the Son of Man" (Luke 17:26). There are many contexts to what Jesus says here, but I would like to draw attention to the way as stated in Hebrews 11:7 "By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith." Noah was given faith to be obedient to the command of God: build an ark in a place which was far from any body of water and in a world which had never seen rain. So too, in the last days we will need to"walk by faith and not by sight" in same way Noah was given to be obedient to God. It will be the kind of faith required to do "the greater works".
In the process of praying and being led in the scriptures for this word, here are two other things in which the Holy Spirit opened up understanding to me which I believe I should share. This is 'meat' and some may not be able to receive it.
In Genesis 5:29 Noah's father Lamech gives a prophecy over his son: "And he called his name Noah, saying 'This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord has cursed'." Likewise in the last days I believe the Bride of Christ will walk in supernatural faith, bringing comfort during the judgement of the last days.
Hebrews chapter 12 begins with "Therefore", meaning we should look back to chapter 11 to see what the "Therefore" is referring to. "And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses..." I have read accounts of some in the Body of Christ who have said that they have had encounters in the Spirit with Elijah and Enoch. With all such accounts it wise to ask the Holy Spirit for discernment and wisdom; yet for me one account in particular seems true; I had a 'witness in my spirit' as some would say. If we are truly living in the last days then it would make sense, as each of these great men of God are identified in scripture as having a context with the last days (Malachi 4:5-6, Matthew 17:11, Jude 1:14) and it is my belief that the 'great cloud of witnesses' are more than just heavenly 'cheerleaders', but through Jesus they have an impartation to give us "so that they should not be made perfect apart from us." I believe that these encounters are "signs of the times". I believe that the Lord gave me understanding that another "sign of the times", that His return is "at the very door", will be like encounters with Noah, who being part of the "great cloud of witnesses" will have an impartation to give to this, the last generation.
I have written much, and I don't claim to have perfect understanding of it all. What I can say is that I have done my best to relate everything as it was given to me. Any errors are mine alone. There could much more to write on the subject of faith, many more scriptures to tie in, but I have shared what I have shared save two. My prayer for this word is from 2 Timothy 2:7 "Consider what I say, and may the Lord give you understanding in all things" Above all, concerning faith, or any other subject, we should do as the author of Hebrews told us: Hebrews 12:2 "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith..."