BEYOND FAITH

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The eleventh chapter of Hebrews is

considered to be the Hall of Faith of the

Bible. It reminds us of the great

victories that have been won through

faith. The first three verses reveal vital

information concerning faith.

Now faith is the substance of

things hoped for, the evidence of

things not seen. For by it the

elders obtained a good report.

Through faith we understand

that the worlds were framed by

the word of God, so that things

which are seen were not made of

things which do appear.

(Hebrews 11:1-3)

Have you ever stopped and asked

yourself, what is it I hope for? I don’t

know about you, but I hope for what

God has given me. In II Peter, Chapter

1, Peter gives us a wealth of information

concerning things God has given to us.

He also reveals how he gave it.

Grace and peace be

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Beyond Faith

multiplied unto you through the

knowledge of God, and of Jesus

our Lord, According as his divine

power hath given unto us all

things that pertain unto life and

godliness, through the knowledge

of him that hath called us to

glory and virtue. (II Peter 1:2-3)

It is obvious that knowledge of what

God has done is vitally important to our

faith. You can’t believe any further than

you have knowledge. If you didn’t have

knowledge of God’s promises, you

couldn’t possibly have faith for them to

be manifest in your life. Faith is the

substance, and it is also the evidence of

those things that are not yet seen in the

natural.

Sometimes I think we have been

guilty of putting so much emphasis on

faith that people get hung up on faith

alone. Certainly faith is important and is

a must if we are to possess the promises

of God, but Peter admonished us to add

virtue and knowledge to our faith. I

believe this is one of the keys that will

cause us to be fully persuaded.

In John 8:31-32, Jesus says: “... If ye

continue in my word, then are ye my

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Beyond Faith

disciples indeed; And ye shall know the

truth, and the truth shall make you

free.” It is the knowledge of truth

connected with faith that causes us to act

on the word to be free.

If faith is the substance of things

hoped for, the evidence of things not

seen, the question arises: Why is it not

seen? It is not seen because we don’t

have enough light on the subject to

project the correct image. If you can’t

see some things the scriptures teach, it

is usually because you don’t have

enough light on the subject.

HIS WORD GIVES LIGHT

David said, “The entrance of thy

words giveth light...” (Psalm 119:130)

The more Word you have on any

one subject, the more light you will

have. One translation says faith is the

“title-deed.” It’s the substance of what

is hoped for when the things hoped for

are based on the authority of God’s

Word. It is also the evidence of what

you can’t see with the natural eye.

If you had never heard of I Peter

2:24 which states: “(Jesus) Who his

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Beyond Faith

own self bare our sins in his own body

on the tree, that we, being dead to

sins, should live unto righteousness:

by whose stripes ye were healed.”

You might say, “To believe that, I’ll

have to have faith in your Word,

because I haven’t read it or experienced

it.” Even though you don’t know

whether that’s right or not as far as

experiencing it, but you could release

your faith in that Word.

What you’re doing is laying hold by

faith on the promise until the

manifestation comes. In the mean time,

you should be confessing it by faith,

because you have no outward evidence

or experiential knowledge of the matter.

When you study the principles of

the law of faith which Jesus taught in

Mark 11:23-25, you will find that

believing is a result of what you are

saying:

For verily I say unto you,

That whosoever shall say unto

this mountain, Be thou removed,

and be thou cast into the sea; and

shall not doubt in his heart, but

shall believe that those things

which he saith shall come to pass;

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Beyond Faith

he shall have whatsoever he

saith. Therefore I say unto you,

What things soever ye desire,

when ye pray, believe that ye

receive them, and ye shall have

them. And when ye stand

praying, forgive... (that) your

Father... may forgive you your

trespasses. (Mark 11:23-25)

It seems that verse 25 must be

obeyed to qualify to be forgiven so that

your faith will work. Then it is the

saying (confessing) of the Word, that

creates the image of the Word inside

you. Eventually, it becomes obvious to

you that what God promises has already

been provided. God has already given it

and as far as God is concerned, it’s

already yours and you possess it by

faith.

GOD HAS ALREADY GIVEN

Here is how Peter said it in II Peter

1:3-4:

According as his divine

power hath given unto us all

things that pertain unto life and

godliness, through the knowledge

of him that hath called us to

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Beyond Faith

glory and virtue: Whereby are

given unto us exceeding great

and precious promises: that by

these ye might be partakers of

the divine nature, having escaped

the corruption that is in the

world through lust.

ADD TO FAITH

All things that pertain unto life and

godliness are given through this

accurate knowledge, which reveals that

He has already done it. This is the

knowledge that taps God’s provisions.

In II Peter 1:5, Peter tells us not to

stop with faith. “And beside this,

giving with all diligence, add to your

faith virtue; and to virtue

knowledge.”

Years ago, when I gave a hundred

dollars in an offering, it took all the

faith I had to believe that God would

multiply what I had planted. But it is not

that way today, because I have too much

knowledge to doubt what God

promised. That knowledge came

through confessing (saying) God’s

promises and experiencing the

fulfillment of those promises in my life.

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Beyond Faith

Today I’m just acting on what I

know—I don’t have to be actively

concerned about faith, although faith is

there. I have added knowledge to my

faith and am fully persuaded. I’m

operating on what I know, not just on

what I believe. The faith image is

perfected in us, when accurate

knowledge is fused together with faith

and we act on what we know.

You have too much knowledge to

doubt that you can get in your car and

drive it. (Unless you’re four payments

behind!) You don’t have to actively use

your faith to drive your car because you

know you can.

In Galatians 3:23-26, Paul said:

... before faith came, we were

kept under the law, shut up unto

the faith which should

afterwards be revealed.

Wherefore the law was our

schoolmaster to bring us unto

Christ, that we might be justified

by faith. But after that faith is

come, we are no longer under a

schoolmaster. For ye are all the

children of God by faith in Christ

Jesus.

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Beyond Faith

Under the New Covenant, faith is

your schoolmaster to bring the image of

the promise into focus. Then when the

image is perfected in you (in your

spirit), you’ve moved to a higher plane.

Then, you know beyond any doubt and

you’re no longer struggling in the area

of faith. The struggle is over because

you are fully persuaded.

Please don’t misunderstand what

I’m saying. I’m not saying that you

don’t need faith. Faith is there alright,

but you have moved up to a level where

faith and knowledge have been fused

together in your spirit. The matter is

then a settled issue and you just act on

what you know to be true. Remember,

Jesus says in John 8:31-32: “... If ye

continue in my word, then are ye my

disciples indeed; And ye shall know

the truth, and the truth shall make

you free.”

Sometimes you hear people say,

“You never know what God will do.”

But you will if you read His Word. Let

me say it this way: If you know what

God will do. He’ll do it. But if you

don’t know what God will do. He’s

under no obligation.

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Beyond Faith

Faith makes a demand on the

promises of God through the knowledge

of what God has already done. When

you have faith based on that knowledge,

there’s no struggle with faith, for you

know you have the title-deed.

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Document Outline

- Beyond Faith

- 1 Beyond Faith

- His Word Gives Light

- God Has Already Given

- Add to Faith

Table of Contents

Beyond Faith

1 Beyond Faith

His Word Gives Light

God Has Already Given

Add to Faith