HAVE FAITH IN GOD...I want to take up a text, and I think it's a very important topic. I've recently heard things that I didn't even realize people really even thought. I had someone to tell me you don't have to have faith to go to heaven. I thought, Oh, my goodness… how could anybody even think such a thing?  So, I want to teach about having faith in God. God is the topic of this sermon.  ~Pastor Stoney Kiser

I want to tell you how to get that faith, how to get increased in that faith, how that faith is going to be tried, what it means to have faith, and how long you need faith. Romans 1: 16 & 17...This is really the base of what faith is all about and how you get it.  That's if you can. I always heard it said that you can't show somebody the church without showing them the door.  If you just show them a building, they can't get in it without a door.  Romans 1:16 He said,  “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."  So, without faith it is impossible to please God. 

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO HAVE FAITH IN GOD   If you don't have faith, how are you going to where God is?  That faith is the first rung on the ladder. Jacob had a vision, and he saw the ladder that set on the earth.  The top of it reached up into heaven where God was.  Well, that ladder represents Jesus Christ. The first thing that you will find about Jesus Christ is when he said, “Add to your faith (in Peter's writing) virtue.  If you're going to have virtue, knowledge, temperance, godliness, brotherly kindness, charity, you need faith to add to it because without faith, you can't add all of these. 

ARE YOU LOSING FAITH IN GOD   First of all, you can't believe that he is God...and you're never going to have the love of God if you don't have faith that he exists. Do you believe in God? Do you know that there is a God? Do you have faith that God hears you and answers your prayers?  Is it all done through faith.  Let's read this again, Romans 1:16 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ:”.  How do we get faith?  First of all, faith comes by hearing the Word of God.  What is it that you hear?  You have to hear the truth. Jesus Christ said that he was the way, the truth and the life.  John 6:44 KJV "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day." That is important to remember and realize because that is how long your faith has got to last…your last day. 

HOW TO BUILD FAITH AND TRUST IN GOD   Faith cometh by hearing the Word of God.  That faith has got to be there all the way to the end.  Your faith will end in sight.  That is the only time it will end is insight.  There's a reason for that.  Romans 1:16, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ:"  That gospel of Christ is what helps you to understand that God is God. I'll quote from Apostle Paul Hebrews 11:6, “for he that cometh to God must believe that he is,"...there's a must put on that… "must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him".

WHERE IS YOUR FAITH IN GOD   If you have faith, you need to have works and if you have works then you can have faith. This lawyer came to Jesus and said, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life”?  You can see right there a lot of people want to get away completely. They want to say, “Well, I have the knowledge that Jesus is the Son of God and that's all I need”.  That is not true. You need to have works and there is a reason behind that. So, this faith that we have in God as James 2:18, “shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works".  You can't make it to God's heaven unless you believe that he is.   

Some people will have you to believe that your righteousness is the righteousness of God.  And that God will save you whether you want to be saved or not.  You just have to believe that he is God. There is more to it than just believing.  There are works, and it goes along with it.  But without those works, how can you even prove that you believe in God? 

I pray today that you know Jesus Christ as your Savior.  If you don't, I'd love to introduce him to you.  He is such an awesome person and to know the freedom that you can have in Jesus Christ that this world doesn't have to offer you. I'll quote from Jesus' own writing, he said, “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest". If you are burdened down today with sin…if Satan just rides you all the time and you don't know what to do…let me tell you how to get away from that. Psalm 55:22 Jesus Christ said, “Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee:". So today, if you have a burden…if you have a problem…give it to Jesus.  Give it to the one that has the answer.

Consider what we say, and the Lord will give you understanding in all things.