FAITH THAT OVERCOMES THE WORLD

1 John chapter 4








Today we are walking in: Faith That Overcomes The World










Proverbs 20:6



Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful H529 man who can find?





FAITH





Today we look to the word FAITH-- H529- emuwn--faithfulness, trusting, faithful









The Torah testifies...............


Deuteronomy 32:20



And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith H529











The prophets proclaim..................



Habakkuk 2:4



Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith H529.







The writings bear witness............

*******

CHAPTER TEN

FAITH THAT OVERCOMES THE WORLD

“Faith is taking the

—Martin Luther King Jr.

The

Kingdom of God is a fearless Kingdom. As we grow in our

life of faith, we will develop a healthy degree of fearlessness

with regard to both present circumstances and future potentialities.

Where are you on the growth scale? Are you still struggling with

faith issues, wrestling with fear, and having trouble trusting God

even for day-to-day needs? Or have you matured to the point where

you can honestly tell a friend or neighbor, “I’m not afraid anymore

of what I’m facing”?

Ultimately for Kingdom citizens, it doesn’t matter what’s

happening with the economy, layo

losses, property losses, business failures,

disasters, and the like. As painful and di

truly are insigni

faith as a Kingdom citizen, you will not fear or worry about these

things because your faith does not reside in them; your life and

welfare do not depend on them. You can face life and all its

challenges without fear because your trust is in God who never

changes, who cannot be shaken, and who reigns over an everlasting

Kingdom.

So how do you get rid of fear? Open your heart fully to the love of

God. Let His love

and perfect love drives out fear (see 1 John 4:18). Another antidote

for fear is the experience and con

one less thing to be afraid of. Once you survive a test, future tests in

that area won’t scare you anymore because now you know what you

are made of.

How far has your faith been tested? Have you ever found yourself

saying of a particular situation, “I never thought it would come

down to this”? Well, get ready, because you haven’t seen anything

yet! Just when you think things can’t possibly get any worse, they

will. Just hang around a little longer, and you will see. But that still

is no cause for fear, because faith will give you the strength to

overcome any obstacle you face.

How far has your faith been tested? Most of us overestimate the

magnitude of our trials. We tend to think that we are being sorely

tested when really we are barely scratching the surface of su

The writer of Hebrews is describing most of us when he says, “In

your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of

shedding your blood” (Heb. 12:4). In other words, most of us have no

idea what true su

us from it up to now.

Remember, God will not allow any of us to be tempted (tested)

beyond our ability to resist. He apportions the tests according to our

readiness. As our faith grows, so will the severity of the tests that

God allows into our lives. In the end, however, Kingdom faith will

prove stronger than death itself. This is why multitudes of believers

throughout the ages have faced a martyr’s death boldly,

courageously, and even joyfully. They knew that not even death

itself could destroy them.The Kingdom Bene

What bene

talked about quite a few in this book: hope, stability, maturity,

con

(learning to see from God’s point of view instead of our own),

power, fearlessness, and discernment (distinguishing between the

trivial and the truly important). Perhaps the greatest bene

proving to ourselves and others the genuineness of our faith. This

results in bringing glory to God. All of this is part of the complete

salvation “package” we receive from God. Peter explains it this way:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new

birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an

inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are

shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last

time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to su

all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes

even though re

when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though

you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are

for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls (1 Peter 1:3-9).

Through trials we come to a deeper faith, and therefore to a

deeper understanding of what our salvation in Christ really means.

Consider for a moment the bene

passage from Peter: a new birth; a living hope; an imperishable

inheritance; protection by God’s power; joy that transcends

su

love for God; and joyous assurance of God’s love for us.

Once we realize all that is ours in Christ, it becomes easier to

understand why Peter tells us to rejoice in our trials. Trials help

prove the genuineness of our faith, which gives us an unshakeable

conviction that all these bene

Kingdom citizens. Our con

can handle. So we should look upon every test we face as a vote of

con

thinks of us.The Importance of Genuine Faith

Proving the genuineness of our faith is extremely important

because there are many so-called “believers” whose faith is false or

who have confused or misguided conceptions of faith. False faith

may talk big and sound like the real thing, but it will never survive

the proving, re

shallow. Faith talk must be backed up by a faith walk. Remember

Paul’s words, “We live by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). In a similar

vein he wrote elsewhere, “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not

gratify the desires of the sinful nature” (Gal. 5:16).

Kingdom faith rarely takes the easy path, because that is the way

of the world. Jesus said,

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to

destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to

life, and only a few

Many people assume faith to be nothing more than mental assent

to a set of belief statements, but true faith is so much more. True

faith not only a

live and act. True faith transforms us from the inside out and always

reveals itself in right speaking and right living. James put it like

this:

What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save

him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him,

“Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what

good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do (James 2:14-18).

True faith and action go together. Jesus said,Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are

ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes,

or

good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not

bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the

Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only he who

does the will of My Father who is in heaven (Matthew 7:15-21).

The tests and trials of life quickly weed out the false from the true

when it comes to faith. The false have no staying power. Jesus drew

this distinction clearly in His parable of the seeds and the sower:

A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and

the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang

up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched,

and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and

choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or

thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear.

Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the

Kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his

heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The one who received the seed that fell on rocky

places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root,

he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly

falls away. The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the

word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. But

the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and

understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown

(Matthew 13:3-9;18-23).

Look at all the “testing” words in this story: rocky, scorched,

choked, trouble, persecution, worries, deceitfulness of wealth. These are

the kinds of things that separate the true from the false. Many

people have shallow faith with little root or depth. They seem

for a while, as long as things go well. But the moment they hit a

patch of rough water, their “faith” is exposed for what it really is: ashallow “bless me” mentality that is completely inadequate for

handling the normal tests and challenges of life.

Then there are others who seek to use faith for their own

purposes, such as the attainment of a worry-free life or the

acquisition of wealth. When neither of these materializes, they

quickly drop their faith and move on to something else. Only true

faith holds out until the end—and enjoys the blessing and reward of

an abundant harvest.

Plant your feet on solid ground. Anchor your faith in the Rock,

Jesus Christ. Trust in Him alone because He will never fail you. As

you stand

praise God on your behalf when they see you go through tests.

They’ll say, “Wow! Your God made you strong. I thought you were

going to lose it, but He brought you through!” They will see

strength, not escapism. We should never be known by the trials we

avoided. Your reputation should be built upon the trials that you

came through. People will be impacted by God through the

testimony you give, not by the things you never had.

Pseudo-faith fears failure because it sees failure as a sign of

weakness, and false faith is all about appearances. Don’t be afraid of

failure. Don’t get upset just because you didn’t win. Sometimes

losing is a good thing. It tests our resolve. And many times we learn

as much or more from our mistakes and failures as from our

successes. Be very wary of trusting anybody who has never lost

anything.

For this reason, testing also is a prerequisite for leadership. Paul

instructed Timothy to appoint no one as leaders in the church who

had not been tested (see 1 Tim. 3:10). He was talking speci

about deacons, but the condition applies equally to all would-be

leaders. Education is no guarantee of leadership ability. What

matters is faith proven through testing. The last thing the Church

needs is “hirelings” in leadership. Jesus said,

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not

the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep andruns away. Then the wolf attacks the

hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep (John 10:11-13).

A hireling is someone hired to a position who has little or no

personal or emotional interests invested. He hasn’t been tested to

see whether or not he has staying power. When trouble comes, a

hireling abandons his post because he lacks any commitment

beyond what is required for his paycheck. After all, there are always

other jobs. Testing of faithful leaders will shape their discipline and

character to shepherd the people with the same spirit as their Lord.The Seven Roles of Kingdom Faith

As we approach the end of this study of Kingdom faith, I want to

share seven key roles of Kingdom faith as it relates to us and our

place in the Kingdom of God. While serving as a brief review of

truths we have considered throughout this book, it will also

reemphasize the indispensable nature of faith in Kingdom life.

1. Kingdom faith is how we enter the Kingdom. This faith does not

come from within ourselves, but as a gift by the grace and love of

God:

But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even

when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up

with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the

coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us

in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from

yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s

workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to

do (Ephesians 2:4-10).

Without faith it is impossible to please God (see Heb. 11:6). This

means that no one gets into the Kingdom of God without faith.

2. Kingdom faith is our source of peace in the Kingdom. Like faith

itself, peace comes only as a gift from the Lord:

Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let

your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid (John 14:27).

I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have

trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world (John 16:33).

Because the peace that Jesus gives does not come from the world,

the world does not and cannot understand it. Christ’s peace is much

higher, deeper, richer, and fuller than any peace the world canimagine because it is a peace that

God there is no peace.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,

present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will

guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7).

3. Kingdom faith is the currency of the Kingdom. No Kingdom

business is transacted without it.

According to your faith will it be done to you (Matthew 9:29b).

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe

that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).

Faith currency gives us access to the riches and resources of the

kingdom:

Everything is possible for him who believes (Mark 9:23b).

If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer (Matthew 21:22).

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will

be yours (Mark 11:24).

This is the con

He hears us. And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what

we asked of Him (1 John 5:14-15).

We get things in the Kingdom by exchanging faith for them.

4. Kingdom faith is the culture of the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God

lives and breathes by faith.

What does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as

righteousness” (Romans 4:3).

For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from

to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith” (Romans 1:17).We live by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).

I have been cruci

body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me (Galatians 2:20).

Clearly no one is justi

(Galatians 3:11).

Any culture without faith is not Kingdom culture. Without faith

there is no Kingdom culture.

5. Kingdom faith is the evidence of the Kingdom. The primary way

the world sees and knows the reality of the Kingdom of God is

through the faith of Kingdom citizens.

You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It

is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp

and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the

house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and

praise your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:13-16).

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one

another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another (John

13:34-35).

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us

the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and

not from us (2 Corinthians 4:6-7).

The faith and love we show toward God, as well as the love we

show for our fellow believers, and indeed for all people, give clear

evidence to the world that the Kingdom of God is real.

6. Kingdom faith is the life of the Kingdom. Only in the Kingdom of

God do we

In the way of righteousness there is life; along that path is immortality (Proverbs 12:28).

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him

shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the

world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but

whoever does not believe stands condemned already because He has not believed in the name of

God’s one and only Son (John 3:16-18).

The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace (Romans

8:6).

Faith is the very lifeblood of every Kingdom citizen.

7. Kingdom faith creates the environment of the Kingdom. A faith-




are transformed, which is the greatest miracle of all.

Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind Him and

touched the edge of His cloak. She said to herself, “If I only touch His cloak, I will be healed.”

Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” He said, “your faith has healed you.” And

the woman was healed from that moment (Matthew 9:20-22).

Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her

daughter was healed from that very hour (Matthew 15:28).

“What do you want Me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.

The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”

“Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed

Jesus along the road (Mark 10:51-52).

In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked. He

listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to behealed and called out, “Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk

(Acts 14:8-10).

Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (see

Rom. 10:17). Our belief rises under the environment of faith, which

is how we become active citizens in the Kingdom of God. We don’t

get things from God just because we claim we believe God; we get

things from God because we believe God. The di

on the presence or absence of tests. We don’t truly come to know

and believe God until we go through a living hell. It is when we are

stripped of all our own resources, when we are at the end of our

rope, that we discover the all-su

As long as you have faith, you are still in the game of life. And

you don’t have to have a lot of faith, but your faith has to be real.

Even the tiniest bit of genuine faith can do unbelievable things:

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be

uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you” (Luke 17:5-6).

“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go,

throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will

happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that

you have received it, and it will be yours” (Mark 11:22-24).

Have you seen any trees or mountains uprooted and thrown into

the sea lately? No? What does that say about the quality of our

faith? As these verses indicate, the size of our faith isn’t the issue,

the presence of it is! Just the tiniest grain of genuine, unreserved, no-

holds-barred faith in God is all it takes to move a mountain, whether

it is a mountain of ill health, a mountain of

mountain of criticism and opposition, or a mountain of

unemployment. Whatever your mountain, all you need to move it is

a grain of pure faith, the tiniest penny of Kingdom currency. Can

you see now why the Bible says that our faith will overcome the

world?

Listen to the voice of God. He is saying, “The size of your

mountain isn’t the issue. The magnitude of the tests you face isn’t

the issue. The issue is this: do you believe Me?”

If you can honestly answer “Yes” to that question, then get ready

to see mountains moved in your life as never before. It may not be

today or tomorrow or even a year from now, but “moving day” willcome. In God’s own time and way, it will come. Kingdom faith

overcomes the world—guaranteed!

For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world,

even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of

God (1 John 5:4-5).

Kingdom Principles

Kingdom faith is how we enter the Kingdom.

Kingdom faith is our source of peace in the Kingdom.

Kingdom faith is the currency of the Kingdom.

Kingdom faith is the culture of the Kingdom.

Kingdom faith is the evidence of the Kingdom.

Kingdom faith is the life of the Kingdom.

Kingdom faith creates the environment of the Kingdom.

Kingdom faith overcomes the world—guaranteed!