Faith Is An Act

Posted by Rev. Brittany Smith
"One day He was teaching; and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing. 18 And some men were carrying on a bed a man who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of Him. 19 But not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. 20 Seeing their faith, He said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.” 21 The scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?” 22 But Jesus, aware of their reasonings, answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins have been forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 24 But, so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins,”—He said to the paralytic—“I say to you, get up, and pick up your stretcher and go home.” 25 Immediately he got up before them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home glorifying God.26 They were all struck with astonishment and began glorifying God; and they were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen remarkable things today."     - Luke 5:17-26

Faith is a requirement of every child of God. You can’t enter into the Kingdom without it. In fact, if you want to receive anything from God, you are going to have to have faith. The men in this story demonstrated that faith isn’t just something you talk about, it’s something that needs to be acted upon! Smith Wigglesworth said it this way, “faith is an act.” These men didn’t just talk faith, they walked faith! Even though the situation seemed grim. Verse 19 says, “Not finding any WAY to bring him in.” Not finding any way. Not only is the guy paralyzed, but there is not even any way in the natural to get him to Jesus because the place is packed with people. Naturally it is impossible. It’s improbable. It’s hopeless. But faith doesn’t need a natural way! Why? Because faith sees past the impossible, the improbable, the hopelessness. It focuses on the strength of Jesus, on the power of God, and on His ability, and not on what can or can’t be done in the natural.

These men looked past the natural obstacles round about them and found another way. They carry the man up on the roof, they start pulling the ceiling tiles off, and lower the guy from the roof top down to Jesus. If you want to succeed in life you are going to need rooftop faith. Faith that sees past all of the problems, all of the obstacles, and finds the rooftop in every situation! Just because there wasn’t any easy route to Jesus, these men didn’t give up. They kept trying to get to Jesus. And because of their strong faith and persistence they found their way right to the feet of Jesus. Look at how verse 19 and 20 says it in the Amplified Bible, “19 But finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof [and removed some tiles to make an opening] and lowered him through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus. 20 When Jesus saw their [active] faith [springing from confidence in Him], He said, “Man, your sins are forgiven.” Jesus saw their ACTIVE faith. Faith is an act! If you have faith, it’s not only going to be shown in your words, but it is also going to come out in your actions.

Remember the woman with the issue of blood in Mark chapter 5? She had faith to be made well and she said it. Then she reached out and grabbed the Lord’s garments because she believed that if she touched Him she would be made well. As soon as she touched the hem of His garments, healing power flowed out of Jesus and into her body, and she was made completely well! Her faith acted and yours must too. You won’t get anywhere with God with passive faith. You have to have active faith! When you act in faith, you will see the same mighty power of God working in your life that the paralyzed man had in his life!

Love,

Brittany