FOUNDATION STATEMENT: The tree of faith has to develop to the place of full persuasion if it is ever going to produce results in your life. There’s a process the Word-Seed must go through if it’s going to manifest in our lives. – Hebrews 4:2
I. If we don’t take this word-seed through the process of seed-becoming faith and faith-becoming fully developed, then we’ll never see the seed of this Word manifest in our lives (Hebrews 4:2)
A. They had the word, but that word didn’t become faith in their hearts and consequently that word didn’t produce results in their lives
1. If the Word doesn’t produce faith inside, then that word won’t be reproduced outside
a. They didn’t take the word-seed and develop a tree of faith consequently they never got the fruit
1) Without a tree there is no fruit; Without faith there is no profit;
2. This word has to become faith if you want to see the fruit, not head knowledge
a. It’s possible for a born-again child of God with a lot of knowledge of this word in their head, to see no profit from this word in their lives if they don’t take it through the process of word-seed becoming faith
b. A lot of believers have head-knowledge of the Word, but those same believers haven’t taken the seed of God’s word through the process necessary to develop faith in their hearts
B. We have to understand that the seed of this word has to go through the necessary process to become fruit in our lives
1. This seed of the Word has to become a faith tree in our hearts
a. If this word-seed doesn’t become a fully developed tree of faith, then we’ll never see the fruit of the Word come to pass in our lives.
2. This word-seed has to go through the process of development
a. When you take an apple seed and plant it into the ground the purpose for that seed is to produce more apples. However the first thing that the apple seed does is that it works with the ground to grow and develop an apple tree. You will get no apples without an apple tree. The seed begins to develop and a tree begins to be sprung forth. The tree doesn’t start producing apples the moment that it springs from the ground. That tree has to develop and grow before it can yield the fruit of apples. When it has developed and grown, then it’s gone through the process necessary to qualify itself to bear fruit. If there’s no fruit yet, then the tree is not done developing. (Mark 4:28)
C. APPLICATION: If we aren’t willing to take the Word through the process of becoming faith, then we will not see this word come to pass in our lives.
1. The word doesn’t come to pass because you know it in your head. The word comes to pass because you sowed it in your heart and it became a fully-persuaded faith tree.
2. Don’t expect to something to be produced outside when you haven’t taken the time to produce the belief for it inside.
II. The development of faith
A. Faith can develop. There are levels of faith. (Mark 4:28)
1. Little faith vs. Great faith (Matthew 14:31, Matthew 8:10)
2. Weak faith vs. Strong faith (Romans 4:16-21)
3. The disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith (Luke 17:5)
4. Faith comes by hearing in the word and if you’re not hearing the word faith is not coming (Romans 10:17)
B. Faith has to be developed before it produces results the way a tree has to be developed before it yields fruit (Mark 4:28)
1. First, then, after – That shows development and progression
a. First the blade; development, but no fruit yet
b. Then the ear; development, but no fruit yet
c. After that; fruit
2. A little tree won’t yield fruit, likewise little faith won’t yield a harvest
a. Peter failed on little faith (Matthew 14:31)
3. Too many believers are expecting to see a harvest with little faith
C. APPLICATION: Faith that’s not developed will not produce results in your life. Faith has to grow and develop before it’s qualified to yield fruit.
III. If we expect to see a harvest we have to have a Fully Persuaded-Tree Of Faith
A. Great faith of fully developed faith that is based solely on the word of God
1. Matthew 8:8 – Great faith is when the Word of God is final authority in your life
a. Matthew 15:28 – All she needed was the crumbs of the word
2. Romans 3:3-4 – Great faith is developed to the place where God and His Word are true and anything that disagrees with his word is a liar
B. Fully persuaded faith is faith that doesn’t waver
1. Romans 4:16-21
a. Abraham didn’t stagger, waver, or doubt and he was fully persuaded
b. He didn’t start out like that; his faith developed to this place
1) He was trying to have children with other people, his wife was laughing at God’s promise
c. People who have weak faith will constantly be considering the circumstances, but people who have strong faith are so fully persuaded in what they believe that they pay no attention to the circumstances
2. We’re supposed to be in faith without wavering (Hebrews 10:23)
a. Wavering – Without bending, firm, unmoved
3. People who aren’t fully persuaded in their faith will not receive the harvest (James 1:6-8)
a. Nothing wavering – No wavering in your attitude or your confession
1) Wavering – Doubt, lack of faith, to stagger, hesitating
b. Wherever the wind goes the waves go and when you’re wavering wherever the circumstances go you go. If the circumstances are up, you’re up and if they’re down, you’re down.
1) A person who’s fully persuaded in their faith is firm, fixed, and immovable in that the circumstances can go up and down, but they’re same no matter what.
c. The person who doubts and wavers can expect to receive nothing from the Lord
C. Real Faith [Hebrews 11:1 (AMP)]
1. Faith is assured
2. Faith is the conviction of the reality of what you do not see
3. Faith is seeing something as real fact, that is not yet revealed to the senses
4. Faith isn’t in the excitement of the moment; faith is in the day to day lifestyle of believing this Word; faith is believing that word 24 hours a day 7 days a week, no matter what you’re doing, no matter where you’re at, and no matter what’s going on around
5. Faith is us finding you busy believing God and His Word
D. APPLICATION: As long as you’re wavering, you will not see the word come to pass in your life. It is imperative as a believer that you get to the place where you’re faith is fully developed; because that’s the only way you’re going to see results in your life.
IV. You develop your faith by continuing in the Word
A. You develop the seed of the Word into a fully persuaded tree of faith by watering the seed of the word with the water of the word and give light to the seed of the Word with the light of the Word.
1. You send the water of the word and the light of the word down the necessary pathways to reach the seed of the word (Ephesians 5:26, Psalm 119:105)
a. To develop fully persuaded faith you have to have the Word of God constantly traveling down the pathways of your eyes and ears in the form of seed, water, and light.
b. Tree comes by watering and lighting and keeping the seed in the ground. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17)
1) Faith – persuasion or to be persuaded
2. What has made us think that we can get a harvest without developing our tree with the Word?
a. You can’t separate the development of faith (tree) from the time you spend in the word.
3. If the fruit is not there you either didn’t have the tree of belief to begin with or you’re still in the process of believing.
a. If the fruit is not there, then your faith isn’t developed and you should be sowing the Word to develop it.
b. If you’re not putting the word in to develop your faith, then you aren’t getting any closer to your harvest.
B. It’s the act of continuing in the Word that will get you to the place of fully persuaded faith (John 8:31-32)
1. Truth – What is true in any matter under consideration, in reality, in fact, certainly
2. Know – To intercourse or become intimately acquainted with, indicates a relationship between the person “knowing” and the object known; in this respect, what is “known” is of value or importance to the one who knows, and hence the establishment of the relationship, The same idea of appreciation as well as “knowledge” underlies several statements concerning the “knowledge” of God and His truth on the part of believers, such “knowledge” is obtained, not by mere intellectual activity, but by operation of the Holy Spirit
a. I’ve had intercourse with this word, I’ve become intimately acquainted with this word, I have a relationship with this word, I’ve become one with this word, and it has become truth to me
3. What started off as word became truth through the act of continuing
a. EX: I started off with just word that Jesus took poverty and gave me his prosperity, but through the act of continuing this word became truth and the truth is I am rich
4. What’s the truth today?
a. The word is truth (John 17:17)
b. One problem that believers have had is that they haven’t stuck with this word long enough to have intercourse with the truth
5. When it becomes truth to you in your heart, then that truth will manifest in your life and make you free
a. When it’s truth to you in your heart it will become the truth in your life
C. APPLICATION: A part from the act of continuing in the word, you faith will not develop. A part from your faith developing you will see no harvest. Therefore, the act of continuing in the Word is going to be one of the major keys in you seeing that word come to pass in your life.