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So the Bible clearly makes a big deal about faith. Without it you cant please God and
even if you try to please God, it is still a sin if it is done without faith. So obviously
it would be wise for us to learn exactly what is faith. If you dont know what faith is,
all the preaching in the world about having faith as small as a mustard seed means nothing
if you dont know what it is. Just because you memorized the definition "faith is the
substance of things hoped for, evidence of things not seen" doesn't mean you know what
you're talking about. So what Im going to do in this first part is break down an illustration
of faith found in the Word of God that will make it so clear even a baby can understand.
The Bible says faith comes "by the word of God" so to the word we go. One day a centurion
came to Jesus and said to him, "Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously
tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered
and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof, but speak the
word only, and my servant shall be healed . . . When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and
said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no,
not in Israel." Matt. 8:6-10. There it is. In four verses we just found out what faith
is. In this passage Jesus sees something that He describes as faith. And not just any faith
but the greatest faith in all Israel. If we find out what Jesus is talking about here,
then we find out what faith is. And since Christ is the Author and Finisher of faith,
He is definitely qualified to tell us what faith is. Ok so lets break this down. The
centurion wanted something done, he asked the Lord to do it. But when the Lord said,
"I will come" and do it, the centurion checked Him, saying, "Speak the word only," and it
shall be done. This is the difference between our prayers and the centurions prayers. We think we get answers
if we use big words, repeat ourselves 1,000 times or get all emotional so we can cry and
pray at the same time, but the centurion only asked that Jesus speak the word and He knew he would get the answer to his
prayer. What did the centurion expect would do the work? "The word ONLY." Upon what did
he depend on for the healing of his servant? Upon "the word ONLY." So my brother, my sister,
what is faith?