TEXT: Matthew 13:31-32
- Two Kinds of Faith
a. Gift of Faith (1 Corinthians 12:9). This is the sovereign impartation of a Gift of Faith from God to you.
b. Developed Faith. The other is the developed faith in you. In developed faith, if you start out with “5-cent” faith and it grows to “75-cent” faith — then you can deal with any situation that you encounter up to 75-cent faith.
Sovereign faith can come to you in a given situation, and a great miracle will take place. But when the situation is past, for which you needed that Gift of Faith, the faith that took you through it may not reside in you any longer.
Developed faith is something that will stay with you and work for you in any situation in which you find yourself. As long as the problem does not exceed your level of faith growth, you will always be triumphant. But if like the disciples, you come up against a problem bigger than your developed faith, you may experience defeat.
b. How Faith Grows
Three essentials (natural & spiritual) for growth
i. Nourishment: God’s Word (Eph 1:17; Rom 10:17)
ii. Water: obedience to the Word (James 1:22)
iii. Sunlight: love of God (Rom. 5:5; Gal 5:6).
Conclusion
So, we summarize the three ingredients for growth of our faith as follows: hearing, obedience and love. Without the exercise of faith, there is no growth of faith. Faith, therefore, grows by obedience, which flows out of our love for Jesus, in response to hearing the word of the Lord.