Unstoppable Faith should be the desire of every Christian. It is a faith that is possessed and it is clearly an action faith. It is that faith that leads us to believe we can do all things that are in Christ's will.
Do we really understand what is faith? Of course we can quote scripture, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). This definition for most of us has been memorized, but the challenge is to transform it to action, and everyday life. Now the New International Version of this scripture, I believe can help us get closer to that purpose, "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."
Our faith walk must be personal to have any hope of understanding what faith is. Surely it is a prerequisite, if we are to have any hope of entering into the kingdom of God. A little faith is better than no faith, but our desire should be to have much faith. Faith is the eye of the Christian, "for we walk by faith and not by sight."
Faith is an absolute assurance, trust, and confidence in God and God's word. Martin Luther King, Jr, stated, "The God whom we worship is not a weak and incompetent God. He is able to beat back gigantic waves of opposition and to bring low prodigious mountains of evil. The ringing testimony of the Christian faith is that God is able." Billy Graham said, "Faith simply means believing that something is true, and then committing our lives to it. In the Bible, 'faith' means believing in God, and in what Christ has done for us to make our salvation possible - and then committing ourselves to Him."
The Strong's Concordance defines faith as always a gift from God, and never something that can be produced by people. In short, faith for the believer is "God's divine persuasion" - and therefore distinct from human belief (confidence), yet involving it. The Lord continuously births faith in the yielded believer so they can know what He prefers, i.e. the persuasion of His will. Scripture tells us, "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 Jn 5:4-5).
In the Old Testament, the word faith is only used twice in the KJV, first in Deuteronomy 32:20 and Habakkuk 2:4. However, if you go to the New Testament, you will find that just about every writer used this word in some context. That is not to say or imply that faith was not required in the Old Testament. If you survey the Hall of Faith of the Old Testament saints in Hebrews 11, you will immediately see the word "by faith." Each one of these individuals' faith was tested "by faith." They are not the the example of a perfect faith, but they were sustained by their faith. Hebrews 11:13 begins with these words, "All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not received the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance."
The Bible depicts several people who have unstoppable faith. In the Book of Mark, we see Jesus in the role of a servant, for He came not to be served, but to serve humanity. We are able to see Him changing lives and giving hope to whosoever would seek after Him. All of this was in step of doing His "Father's Will."
"After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God." He walked beside the sea of Galilee, calling His disciples saying, "Come, follow me." Later He went to Capernaum which would be His northern headquarters. He went into the synagogue and began to teach the people and they were so amazed, because He taught as one who had authority. The news spread very quickly over the whole region of Galilee, like a wild fire. While in the synagogue He drove out an evil spirit from a man. After He left the synagogue, He healed Mary, Simon's mother-in-law, and He healed many others.
Mark 1:35 tells us, "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed." Let me say this, prayer is key to our faith, no prayer, no faith. Jesus wanted to go to other nearby villages to preach. "So He traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons" (Mark 1:39). Then He healed a man with leprosy, then Jesus tells him, "See that you don't tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them" (Mark 1:44).
A few days later, Jesus entered Capernaum again. Now we get to see a man and his four friends that epitomize "unstoppable faith." The bible says that after Jesus entered Capernaum, the people heard that He had come home and, "So many gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. Some men came, bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four of them. Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it, lowered the mat the paralyzed man was lying on" (Mark 2:2-4). Their faith was strong enough that they believed that if they made it into the presence of Jesus, their friend's life would be changed. I am foolish enough to think that if they went to that extent to get Jesus to bless their friend, I really believe that Jesus had to bless them also, because only Jesus could see the extent of their faith.
How did Jesus see their faith? By their works! They demonstrated their faith by bringing the paralytic to Jesus. They didn't just walk up to Jesus, because the bible made it clear, they couldn't get to Jesus because of the crowd. They made a opening through the roof and lowered their friend to Jesus. "When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, 'Son, your sins are forgiven'" (Mark 2:5). Faith at work, is faith that works. This gives credence to James who wrote, "Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works" (James 2:18).
To better understand what took place, let's look first at the setting. We are told, "a few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that He had come home." This was an opportunity for the residents of Capernaum to interact with Him again. To them, He was coming home. The paralytic had missed the opportunity the other time, while Jesus was ministering in the area. Can you imagine, they were probably beating themselves up about that missed opportunity? Probably they had days of disappointments or maybe some depression followed. In the back of his, and his friend's minds, Jesus being in Capernaum was never going to happen again. Walk with me now, imagine him saying to himself, "If He comes again, or when He comes again, how can I get to Jesus? He couldn't forget what the people was saying, "The crowd was large, and He had done wonderful and marvelous things changing the lives of people." To him, this was a once in a lifetime chance. His mind was probably made up and if he ever got the opportunity, he was going to see Jesus one day.
Then suddenly one day the exciting news came, "Jesus had entered Capernaum again." Immediately his faith kicked into action. He called four of his most trusted friends, knowing in his spirit who would be willing to carry him the distance. They answered without any hesitation. Each grabbed a corner of the padded mat, and down the road they went, for a once in a lifetime encounter that would change all of their lives.
Now let us look at the scene. They arrived early, but they could not get to Jesus because of the crowd, and they had received the same good news. The place was packed tightly, inside and outside, and that made it impossible to execute their Plan A. So they thought about the situation, but only for a minute and quickly undertook an alternate approach to gain entry. Their "unstoppable faith" led them up the outside stairway. Eagerly, the mat bearers hurried to the roof top with "unstoppable faith," acknowledging in their spirit. Remember, "All things are possible to Him that believeth." They were now showing their faith by their works. Once on top of the roof they vigorously attacked the job of digging away the hard-packed dirt and tearing a wide hole in the branches that lay on the cross beams. Before the startled gaze of those who sat below, they lowered the paralytic on his mat, right down in front of Jesus. This blew the minds of those inside. But to the man and his four friends, they had delivered the paralytic man with success. They had done their part, unknowingly to them that they had demonstrated their faith by their works. The rest was up to Jesus.
Now let us look at the suffering. The Bible gives us no information about how long this man had been in his condition. Nor do we know anything about his age or if he had any family, but because of his faith, and his four friends that believed, this opportunity would make a tremendous difference in his life. So using my imagination, he looked at Jesus and Jesus set His eyes upon him. What did Jesus see? He saw their faith and said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."
Jesus forgave the man's sins first. By doing so, He taught that the most important thing in a man's life is for him to seek forgiveness before anything else. We should always seek to do this first. Jesus wishes are for us to live eternally, not just for a few years, but before we can live eternally, we must be willing to come to Him for forgiveness of our sins.
There was something special about these four men. Without a doubt, they encouraged the paralytic and each other, in overcoming the impossible obstacles that were set before them. Each one of them was special, indeed.
Each one of these four men to me, represented what I call the four "P's:" Prayer, Persistence, Perseverance, and Patience. Let's call the first man, Prayer. Scripture tells us, "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5:16). You can always call on the Lord at all times. He is never too busy to hear from us. Prayer can get you to Jesus quicker than the speed of light. Prayer affords us the opportunity to demonstrate our faith.
The second man, we will call him, Persistence. Life is not always fair nor is it easy, but we must learn how to deal with the hand we are dealt. We must ask, knock, and seek until heaven answers. We must stay the course, despite opposition or difficulties. Scripture tells us, "There, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain" (1 Corinthians 15:58). Also, "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up" (Galatians 6:9). Remember, we serve an on time God and He is never late.
The third man, we will call him, Perseverance. Because Christ lives in us, we can remain courageous and hopeful to the end, believing and standing firm, in the name of Jesus. To get over life's obstacles and challenges, will take perseverance. But know that we are the children of the living King, and "we must continue to look unto the hills from whence cometh thy blessings." Scripture says, "You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised" (Hebrews 10:36). We should not dwell on the past nor should we give up. Failure in Christ is not an option. The assurance of salvation will keep us going.
The fourth man, we will call him, Patience. We are faced with many situations that will try our patience, almost daily. As children of God we are told that problems develop our patience and character by teaching us to trust Jesus. We are reminded to, "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer" (Romans 12:12) and, "But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience" (Romans 8:25). We know that in all our trials, we will wait on the hand of the Lord to move for us. We know that He will never leave us nor forsake us. Personally, we know that we were purchased by His blood; therefore, we are safe. Trials will confront us, but we are assured that joy will come in the morning.
Please do not forget, "without faith it is impossible to please God," because when we accepted Jesus as our personal Savior, we must believe that we are truly loved by Him, and He rewards those who earnestly seek Him. Unstoppable faith is enduring faithfulness. You might want to give up, but faith will not let you. I don't know what you might be going through, whether it is physical pain, mental distress, a financial crisis, or whatever it could be, but I want you to know that "unstoppable faith" will see you through anything. I am telling you what I know, not just what I have heard. "Faith cometh by hearing, and by hearing the word of God" (Romans 10:17).
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