FAITH COMES BY HEARING

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” (Romans 10:17). 

 

Real faith comes, not from listening to or reading the Word of God, but by hearing it.  This kind of hearing can only come about when the Word of God is planted in our hearts, minds and spirits.  The Parable of the Sower shows us that many seeds fall by the wayside, on rocky ground, or among weeds.  They are then either lost or choked out.  Just hearing the Word is not enough, we must prepare a place for it to flourish.  Every good gardener knows that soil preparation is essential to having good, strong, healthy plants that will produce an abundance of produce.  It is the seed that is sown in the good ground that will produce fruit 30, 60, and 100-fold. 

 

Many of the Jews in Jesus’ day had studied the scriptures and knew quite well what was written.  The trouble was that they weren’t hearing what God was speaking to them through those scriptures, and they weren’t applying those lessons to their own hearts and lives.  They had only a form of godliness but were ignorant of God’s true righteousness.  The words of the Prophet Ezekiel were true of the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day, “Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house.” (Ezekiel 12:2; see also Isaiah 6:10).  The scriptures that Jesus used to set people free were the same words that the Jewish leaders used to condemn their Messiah and those who followed Him. You see, the mere letter of the Word leads to spiritual death, but the spirit of the Word produces life (see 2 Corinthians 3:6). 

 

With the abundance of Bibles printed, Christian books and other literature distributed, sermons, movies and other spiritual programming aired continually in western nations, one would expect to see a greater growth among Christian churches and organizations.  Instead, there is a steady decrease of those who profess to be Christians.  The trouble is that people are being exposed to the Word of God, but they aren’t hearing it.  The Prophet Amos foresaw what was coming and said, “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: and they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it.” (Amos 8:11, 12). 

 

In the Gospel of St. Luke, chapter four, we read that Jesus went back to His hometown and entered into the synagogue on the Sabbath day.  The minister of the synagogue brought the scroll containing the Book of Isaiah to Jesus to read from.  Jesus found the place in Isaiah where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He [the Spirit of God] hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord…” (Luke 4:18, 19; Isaiah 61:1, 2).  Clearly, this passage was referring to Jesus the Messiah whom God had anointed to be the Savior of the world.  Jesus didn’t need to brag about His ministry or the work that God had sent Him to do: He simply read the words.  Then He gave the book back to the minister and sat down.  Something powerful was happening, however, because every eye in the room was on the Lord.  At that point He spoke up and said, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” (Luke 4:21).

 

What an opportunity!  People’s lives had the potential to be changed forever by this man from Galilee; this One Whom God had anointed and sent to them.  I’m very sure that there were those in the congregation that day who were poor and needed to hear the Gospel preached to them.  Certainly, there were those present who were brokenhearted and needed to be healed.  Without doubt there were some who were held captive by sin and needed to be delivered.  What about those who were blind (both spiritually and physically), and those who were bruised and needed to know liberty.  And everyone needed to understand that God was announcing an “acceptable year” to all who had needs of any kind.  To all the needs of the people in that synagogue that day, Jesus was saying, “I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured [given assistance and support in times of hardship and distress] thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2). 

 

Did the people of Jesus’ hometown flock to the altar or fall to their knees in repentance and thankful praise and worship?  No, they began to question Jesus’ authority altogether.  After all, they had seen Him grow up among them, and they saw nothing remarkable in Him.  Jesus then rebuked their unbelief in no uncertain terms.  That’s when they proceeded to grab Him, drag Him out of the synagogue, and try to throw Him to His death from the hill that the city was built on.  Not one person who was there that day was willing to accept God’s offer of liberty and freedom – not one!  They listened to what Jesus read to them from the Word, but they would not hear even though God had anointed Him to deliver it.

 

We must be careful to hear what the Spirit is saying to His Church in these last days.  After speaking very specific things to the seven churches of Asia in the Book of the Revelation, the Lord told each of them, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”  God has very specific things to say to us also.  If we open our hearts to those things, then God will work ever-increasing faith in us.

 

As we study the Word, I know that there are times when it is difficult to discern the relevance of what we read or even understand the words!  No, you are not alone in that.  God’s Word is not meant to be understood all at once.  As we mature in the faith, our understanding of God’s Word increases.  Like a jigsaw puzzle, it fits together piece by piece until one day it will be complete; and we will know even as we are known.  Before Jesus ascended to the Father, He told His disciples that there were many things that He wanted to tell them, but they were not yet mature enough to handle them.  He went on to explain, however, that He would send the Holy Spirit to them, and He (the Spirit) would teach them all things as they grew up into Him (Jesus).  As we read, the Holy Spirit will bring portions of scripture to life for us – sometimes whole chapters, other times just a verse or a part of a verse – and those portions are our Manna, our Bread from Heaven for that day.  If we receive it, and apply it, then Jesus’ words to the folks in His hometown become true for us as well: “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” 

 

There is a story in the Book of Ezra that speaks to this concept of faith coming by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.  Jerusalem had been defeated by the Kingdom of Babylon because they had become very disobedient to God and indulged in many things that grieved His holy nature.  God gave them ample opportunities to repent and turn back to Him; but they would not, and so, judgment fell on them.  The King of Babylon sent a great army into Judea and took the city of Jerusalem, destroying its walls, its houses, and its temple.  He then carried many of the Jewish population into Babylon, and they became exiles from their homeland.  After several decades, though, God honored a promise that He had spoken by the Prophet Jeremiah which spoke of a future king who would allow a large group of the exiles to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple of God.  This was fulfilled when Cyrus, the King of Persia, ascended to the throne.  He commissioned two men to organize and lead this effort.  The one was Jeshua (also called Joshua) who was a high priest, and Zerubbabel who the king named governor of the Judean Province of Persia.  Both these men were faithful servants of God, and they organized and led a total of 49,897 Jews 900 miles from Shushan in Persia to Jerusalem. 

 

When the Jews arrived in Judea, they quickly built the altar of the Lord and began offering daily sacrifices.  They then began work on the foundation of the temple and finished it in the second year of their arrival.  But trouble was brewing. 

 

“Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the LORD God of Israel; then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither.” (Ezra 4:1, 2).  One would think that this sounded like a good thing.  These men said they were seeking the same God as the Jews, they offered sacrifices to Him, and they wanted to help in the labor.  The thing is, the Jews recognized these men as adversaries right away and would not let them help.  “But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the LORD God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us.” (Ezra 4:3).  These men were, in fact, idolaters; and for a long time, they had combined elements of Judaism with the religions of the nations around them.  Therefore, the leaders of the Jews were discerning enough to know that such men would only be at cross purposes with their mission.  In fact, they could even influence some of the faithful with their evil practices.  The House of the Lord is a holy house, and it requires holy hands to build it!   Jesus warned His followers about such folks saying, “Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21).  For a more in-depth look at the spiritual principles at play here, read St. Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18.  As children of God, we must learn to be discerning also.  The devil himself often presents himself as an angel of light, but his intentions are to destroy us! 

 

Israel’s adversaries weren’t happy at the rejection.  Those who are secretly our adversaries usually don’t like it when we establish boundaries and standards either.  When they can’t infiltrate the Church to work their mischief, then they may try using the law to hinder God’s work.  In this case, they wrote a letter to the king telling him what a bad and rebellious people these Jews were.  They accused the Jews of planning to quit paying tribute to Persia, and perhaps even revolting against the king.  Many kings of Persia had come and gone since Cyrus had commissioned the temple to be built, and the current king knew nothing about Cyrus’ decree.  So, he wrote back and commanded that the work in Jerusalem cease.  And it ceased for between 15 and 18 years! 

 

Of course, the Jews had no secret plans to commit sedition or stage an insurrection against their Persian overlords.  They were only acting according to the word of King Cyrus and building a temple to their God.  Before, they were full of joy and gratitude for the grace that they had been shown by God; but now they were fearful to disobey this new king’s commands and return to building.  Israel’s faith was at a low point during this period.  Instead of trusting that it was God that had shed such grace upon them to return to their homeland and rebuild their temple, they began to say, “The time is not come, the time that the LORD’S house should be built.” (Haggai 1:2). 

 

In due course, God spoke through His prophets Haggai and Zechariah to stir the faith of His people.  The prophets called out the people for their unbelief while at the same time encouraging them to trust God and resume building.  

 

A few passages in Zechariah are especially descriptive of the Jews’ situation.  In chapter three, Zechariah sees a vision of Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD with Satan standing beside him to resist him, or as the King James center reference says, “to be his adversary.”  The LORD rebuked Satan, however, saying that He had chosen Jerusalem and that Joshua was one of those who had been “plucked out of the fire.”  Joshua was then stripped of the filthy garments that he was wearing, and clothed with new, clean garments.  This signified his sins being removed and being replaced with garments of righteousness from the Lord.  In chapter four, God addresses Zerubbabel saying, “Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.  Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.  The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you.” (Zechariah 4:6-8). 

 

“Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the LORD their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the LORD their God had sent him, and the people did fear before the LORD.  Then spake Haggai the LORD’S messenger in the LORD’S message unto the people, saying, I am with you, saith the LORD.  And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God.” (Haggai 1:12-14).  This indeed was faith in action!  God spoke His anointed Word to His people, they believed it, and they acted according to their faith.  In other words, they heard what the Spirit was saying to them, and they were empowered to obey without fear of the consequences.

 

The result of the Jews’ obedience was that their adversaries wrote another letter to the king complaining that building had resumed and that the Jews were arguing that King Cyrus had commissioned them to do this work.  The king, therefore, commanded that a search be made in the archives to see if any such decree had been made.  Sure enough, they found the record of it; and the king wrote back to say that they were to leave the Jews alone to complete their work.  Their expenses were also to be paid for out of the king’s tribute!

 

Are you troubled by difficulties of any kind and not sure which way to turn?  Ask God to speak His Word to you and direct your path into the way He would have you go.  We must be willing to lay aside any current sin or selfish motive to hear what He speaks.  If we open the ears of our spirit to Him, He will tell us what we must do, and our faith will be increased to do it.  Then, perhaps, we will hear Him say, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.”