Lesson 6: If Only You Believed

“What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?”~unknown

If only you had as much faith as a mustard seed

Matthew 17:18-20

And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.

19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?
20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

2 Thessalonians 2:13: But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith (pistis/belief) in the truth.

A major part of being sanctified by the Spirit is being filled with faith. How does one exhibit faith?

Reference: Absolute Surrender, Chapter 4 by Andrew Murray

Why do you think Peter betrayed Christ?

In what way is Peter's betrayal comparable to modern situations?

Often we say we believe in God, but live as if we do not believe it.

What does it mean to believe?

Strong's Lexicon: http://www.eliyah.com/lexicon.html

http://www.eliyah.com/cgi-bin/strongs.cgi?file=greeklexicon&isindex=believe


What do we say with our actions?

Do we sing His praises on Sunday and then deny His power on Monday?

Last week we were to find additional passages that

Consider the life of John the Baptist (Born to Die)
What was he born to do? Luke 1:17, 76
Did he do what he was born to do? Was he considered a great success? Luke 7:28
When he completed his calling what happened to him? Matthew 14:10

Consider the life of Jeremiah (Born to Cry) Jeremiah 4:23-28

Consider the life of Ezekiel (Born to lay on his side) Ezekiel 4:4

What has God called you to become? Matthew 5:14; John 8:14

What does it mean to pass out of death into life? If we truly appreciated this translation from death to life, how should we express ourselves?

What is self-life and how can it fill us so much that the power of God cannot work in us as mightily as God is willing that it should?

We are going to study Romans 10 and its historical envelope.
We need to know:
(1) Who wrote it? Paul, a slave of Jesus Christ (Romans 1:1)
(2) When was it written? Written the same time as 1 Corinthians 15:26 - 16:1-2 or ~ AD 58 during the time of Nero's persecution of the church . Nero reigned from 37AD to 68AD.
(3) To whom was it written? To those who have been "called as saints", Christians. (Romans 1:6-7)
(4) For what purpose was it written? Even though the Roman church had faith proclaimed throughout the world (Romans 1:8), they still had problems they needed to overcome. Some of these problems involved peer pressure from the heathen world in which they lived. Paul wanted them to "not be ashamed of the Gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation" (Romans 1:16)
(5) What does it say to me? Reflect

During this time Nero had proclaimed himself to be Dominos Deus (Master Deity or God Supreme) and had erected large statues of himself in prominent locations in Rome (near the Colesseum for example). Once a year citizens were to bow before this statue and give Caesar homage.  Refusing to do so was treason. To declare anyone else Supreme Lord was also considered treason. If you did not worship Caesar you were considered to be an "atheist".


Study Romans 10: 8-15 ... The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;

9That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
12For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
13For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
14How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
15And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

If Paul knew that when Christians said these words alloud, "I believe Jesus Christ is Dominus Deus", this would bring death to them, why did he require a confession with the lips?

Why could faith not come by "seeing someone who does righteous acts"?

If faith comes by hearing, then someone must be speaking. If someone is speaking, then someone could be heard. If someone was heard, then someone could be sentenced to death.

Was Christianity successful in Rome? Did Christianity spread because Christians remained silent?

Are Christians more silent today than during Nero and other Caesar's reigns?

Watch Video:



What is your goal? What consumes your time?




God's purpose;

• God wants you to enjoy life Eccl 5:18

• God sees your posibilities--saw Peters possibilties

• God calls us to a higher purpose--to overcome sin and to live in Him--as a solution to our sin problem



Meditation: My purpose

• what are we going to become?-- Joshua 24:15 choose who will serve
• be willing to pay the price--Luke 14:23--willing "to go" into the hedges
• willing to lose our lives--must be a priority for God's way
• be willing to accept the responsibility

Watch Video: Tamara

Proclaiming the Lord Among the Nations.



HOMEWORK:
(1) Memorize: Phil 4:4-5 
"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. "

(2) Listen to 100% Natural Evanglism #2
(3) Read Chapter 5 Absolute Surrender
(4) Look up: http://truediscipleship.org/priority/priority15.htm Spiritual Blessings.