Faith Essay, Research Paper

Faith

Purpose: to discover what God has to say about faith

By:

Jamie Collins

Faith

Faith is what the Bible describes in Hebrews 11:1 as the ?Substance of things

hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.? This suggests that even though we cannot see

something like the wind, we should believe that it is there. The Bible is probably the best

source to discover what faith is supposed to be. (Hebrews 11:1)

In the book of Matthew, several examples of faith are given. Matthew 8:5-13 says,

?Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him,

saying, ?Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed and dreadfully tormented.? And

Jesus said to him, ?I will come and heal him.? The centurion answered and said ?Lord, I

am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word and my

servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me.

And I say to this one, ?Go,? and he goes, and ?Come?? to another and he comes, and to my

servant, ?Do this? and he does it.? When Jesus heard the man he marveled and said to

those who followed, ?Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even

in Israel! And I say to you that many will come from the east and west, and sit down with

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will

be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.? And Jesus

said to the centurion, ?Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.?

And his servant was healed in that same hour.?(Matthew 8:5-13)

In Matthew 9:18-26, the ruler?s daughter was healed. It says, ?While He spoke

these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshipped Him saying, ?My daughter has

just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.? So Jesus arose and

followed him, and so did His disciples. And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood

for twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His garment. For she said to

herself, ?If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well.? But Jesus turned around,

and when he saw her he said, ?Be of good cheer, daughter; your faith has made you well.?

And the woman was made well from that hour. When Jesus came into the ruler?s house,

and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, ?Make room, for

the girl is not dead, but sleeping.? And they ridiculed Him. But when the crowd was put

outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose. And the report of this

went out into all that land.? This is a good example of faith in the Bible. The woman who

had faith was like what the Bible says, ?If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you

can move mountains.? (Matthew 9:18-26)

Luke 16:10 says that you cannot serve God and mammon. If you serve the one

true God than you cannot serve something else like money, television, or a boyfriend or

girlfriend. These verses say, ?He who is faithful in least is faithful also in much; and he

who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. Therefore if you have not been

faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And

if you have not been faithful in what is another man?s, who will give you what is your

own?(Luke 16:10)

A great story of faith is found in the book of Daniel. It is the story of Shadrach,

Meshach, and Abed- Nego and the fiery furnace in Daniel chapter 3. These three young

Jewish men were taken into captivity by the Babylonians. They were forced to serve in

the court of the mighty King Nebuchadnezzar. This king had built a huge golden idol and

forced all of those who were under him to worship it, and whoever did not worship it was

put to death in the fiery furnace. Almost everyone obeyed this, except for Shadrach,

Meshach, and Abed-Nego. They had faith in God that He would save them from? King

Nebuchadnezzar. The king was so furious that he ordered his men to turn up the heat

seven times hotter than usual, and all of them who threw them in were killed from the

heat of the fire. They were thrown into the fire, and by his amazement, the king saw four

men walking around in the fire, yet there were only three men thrown into it. There was

an angel of God walking around inside the fire that was protecting them. They all walked

out of the fire without a burn mark or even the slightest smell of smoke on their clothing.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed- Nego had that much faith that God would deliver them

from King Nebuchadnezzar.(Daniel 3)

If we did not have faith in God, than we would have faith in ourselves. If that

were to happen, than the world would have so many more problems than we already have.

We should be thankful that God gave us the knowledge of faith in Him to deliver us from

our problems.

1. Matthew, NKJV

2. Luke, NKJV

3. Hebrews, NKJV

4. Daniel, NKJV