During the Sunday service Pastor (Mrs) Silvia Lia Leigh preached a sermon titled The gifts of the Holy Spirit (6)/ Her main scriptures were taken from the Books 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, Romans 4:13-25; and Daniel 6

THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT – INTRODUCTION

These gifts are special supernatural abilities given by God, the Holy Spirit. They are royal family gifts. By using them we resemble Jesus and God, our Father. They are a witness that our salvation is supernatural. These abilities are not natural. The Christian is not born with them. They are not gained thru the study of the Bible or education in general. A pastor or an elder can pray and lay hands on a believer who desires gifts. But no man can give these gifts. They manifest the atmosphere of heaven on earth. These are Grace-Gifts. In Greek, the word ‘gifts’ is ‘charismata’. The word ‘charis’ means Grace. These gifts are not rewards for labor and are not merited. They are free gifts from King Grace! The Holy Spirit is sovereign in distributing these gifts. He gives them according to His will and depending on the need in the local church. God can give them to baby Christians or to the mature ones! The gifts give glory to God! They increase the unity of the Body and the manifestation of miracles.

THE THREE TYPES OF FAITH

Faith is defined as complete trust, confidence, and loyalty to God. Faith is faithful. Doubt, fera, and rebellion are the enemies of faith. Faith has two basic components. The first one is intellectual. The believer knows the Word of God and believes it in his mind. Without knowing God’s Word there is no Biblical faith. The second component concerns the heart. The believer trusts God in his heart. For example, you see a bicycle. You know it is a bicycle. But to trust the bicycle you must ride it. If you are afraid to ride it, it means that you don’t trust it. Faith is fundamental for salvation and for sanctification. It is the key to growing spiritually and to experiencing the supernatural. Faith in God is one of the greatest doctrines in the Bible. Salvation, sanctification, using the gifts of the Holy Spirit, working for God, all these have faith as their source. Basically, the Bible describes three types of faith: saving, fruit, and gift of faith.  

* Saving Faith is for salvation of the sinner

This faith is a gift of grace, from God to the unbeliever, who is among the elect and called of God. Salvation is not a reward, and it is not merited. God takes the glory for every sinner who becomes born again. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Eph 2:8, 9). Salvation makes us humble. There is no boasting about it among men. Christianity starts with receiving this gift of saving faith. Without it, there is no salvation, and there is no Christianity.

*Fruit Faith is for moral character of the believer

Once the sinner becomes saved, he is to pay the price and become a mature believer. He must study the Word of God and pray. The Holy Spirit in his heart will produce fruits in his human spirit. Faith (or faithfulness) is among the slices of this fruit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law” (Gal 5:22, 23). The Fruit Faith is a proof of mature moral character in a believer. As in the natural world, when a tree is planted, it takes time to produce fruits. It is the same with spiritual fruit. It takes time to become a stable and faithful believer, sure of his salvation and exercising faith through prayer or prophecy. This is the only faith that can grow with time.

*The Gift Faith is for believers, to have the power to receive answers to prayer

This faith is a gift given by God the Holy Spirit to a believer. God is sovereign in giving this gift. He can give the gift to a baby Christian or to a mature one. This is a gift of miraculous power to believe ‘the impossible’. The saving faith is of God, but it is divine, supernatural, but not miraculous like the gift faith. “To another faith by the same Spirit” (1 Cor 12:9)

Saving faith goes before salvation. Fruit faith manifests after salvation. Gift Faith manifests after the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The saving faith and the fruit of faith work spiritually, giving confidence of eternal life and going to heaven. The gift of faith works miracles here on earth.

THE GIFT OF FAITH DEFINED “To another faith by the same Spirit” (1 Cor 12:9)

The Gift Faith is one of the greatest gifts given by God. It is defined as the supernatural extraordinary enablement by the Holy Spirit given to a believer in Christ, to totally trust God in all circumstances, to receive power to produce and receive miracles. This gift makes the believer strong and courageous no matter the challenge. Using this faith gift, whatever he desires in his heart and says it with his mouth, God will give it to him. This faith gift comes with 100 % assurance that God hears, and God will answer. God supplies the faith and God produces the miracle. You only have to speak the word, and the miracle happens. In this gift, God supplies 100% and you supply 0% of the power. It is like the faith of ‘a more than a conqueror’. “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Rom 8:37). A conqueror is someone who fights another of equal strength and defeats him. But a man who is more than a conqueror is someone who is small like David and kills the giant Goliath. The victory gives all the glory to God! This is how the gift of faith works. It makes small people behave like giants. It is called ‘mountain mover faith’ or ‘wonder working faith’. A believer with this gift has 100% faith and 0% doubt or fear. One way to know that you have received the gift of faith is the profound absence of fear when most people experience fear. A believer with this gift sees what God wants to do and believes what he sees. He speaks miracles into existence. He speaks God’s Word in a situation, and he’s not surprised when the miracle happens.  

The gift of faith has a greater value than other gifts because it can be used in any circumstances. For example, the American dollar can be used in all countries. Faith is universal ‘money’ that is recognized and appreciated in heaven and on earth. All believers have the saving faith but not all believers have this gift faith. When the believer receives this Gift, faith comes like an injection into his spirit. Whatever he says, God will take the human words to be His own words and honors them. Then the miracle happens without failing. This gift applies to both positive and negative actions. It works to both blessing and cursing, creating good things and destroying the enemy’s opposition. This gift of faith works with prayer. The believer who has this gift of faith may be quiet. He prays and intercedes for others until they receive the miracles. Believers who have this gift are a great asset to the Body of Christ. This gift is not to acquire fame or wealth. It is for the furtherance of God’s Kingdom on earth. Like with other gifts, the gift of faith is to edify the church, to increase the unity of the Spirit in the Body, to release the supernatural and miracles, to inspire others and to give glory to God! It is the responsibility of the believer to discover and use this gift.

The Gift of Faith produces miracles, but it is different from the gift of working miracles or of healings. The working miracles is more active. It produces the miracle instantaneously. The same goes for the gift of healing. But the Gift of Faith is more quiet, more passive. Faith speaks the word and waits for the manifestation which is supernatural, and it will surely come. Therefore, the gift of faith is a sustained silent miracle. It is a holy process. During the period of waiting, the faith does not shake. The Holy Spirit feeds this faith until the miracle happens. Without the gift of faith, Noah could have been tired of building the boat which took him 120 years. Without the gift of faith Abraham could have given up waiting for the son of promise. FAITH = Forsaking All I Take Him!

God told Prophet Habakkuk: “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, it will not tarry” (Hab 2:2, 3)

The gift of faith has prophetic anointing, but it is different from the gift of prophecy which works in the mouth of the believer. It is a vocal gift. The gift of faith is always deeper, for faith works in the heart. From the heart, the mouth speaks the word and God performs it. The believer who has this faith gift is an inspiration to the brethren. He always sees breakthroughs and no hindrance is too much for him. This faith is not something you produce by force. It is not a positive confession, forceful speaking, or wishful thinking. It is the outward act of obedience prompted by the inward guidance of God. Also, this gift is an outward manifestation of power in response to your inward and silent act of listening to God’s heart. The gift faith comes from the Holy Spirit. That which men see as impossible, becomes easy and possible. The Holy Spirit is sovereign deciding who receives this gift. He can give it to a mature believer or to a baby Christian. But the results are always amazing.

Faith always depends on God’s Word. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom 10:17). It is not just an imagination or wishful thinking. You must study the written Word of God. As you study the Bible, it will ‘speak’ to you. As you hear the Bible’s ‘voice’, faith starts to grow. Studying the Bible, prayer, and listening to anointed preachers, is the only way to increase faith in God. The gift of faith is not the basis for the rest of the gifts. It is independent. But it works with prophecy, healing, working miracles and other gifts.

“You will also declare a thing, And it will be established for you; So, light will shine on your ways. When they cast you down, and you say, ‘Exaltation will come!’ Then He will save the humble person. He will even deliver one who is not innocent; Yes, he will be delivered by the purity of your hands” (Job 22:28-30). It is by the gift of faith that ‘you declare a thing and God will establish your word’ thru a miracle. This faith is a gift from King Grace. It blesses even the sinner who will be healed or delivered by your spiritual purity and your gift of faith.

BIBLICAL FAITH DEFINED

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen… “Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses]” (Heb 11:1; NKJ; AMP). In Greek, the word ‘substance’ means confidence, assurance, reality, something that was set under to carry the load. It is like the foundation of the house. Faith is sure of her hopes and totally trusts God’s promises for the future.

“Therefore, do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: 37 “For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry. 38 Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” 39 But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul” (Heb 10:35-39). Faith is the power that pushes the believer to move forward. No matter the challenges in life, faith never draws back, never backslides. By faith you are justified before God. By faith you wait to receive the answer to your prayers. By faith you live. Drawing back means death and destruction. God hates that! God is pleased with faith. Therefore, faith makes progress and pleases God.

Doubt refuses to make spiritual progress and God is not pleased with it. Doubt is a great hindrance to receiving answers to prayers. God allows trials to test and purify our faith. Mature faith is combined with patience. This is the road to spiritual maturity, perfection where you lack nothing. “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (Jam 1:2-8). Doubt means listening to two different opposing voices. Faith always listens only to God and obeys His voice. Doubts listens to God, to the devil and to the flesh. Doubt always leads to anxiety, and confusion. God cannot answer a prayer made in doubt because it may be a request coming from the devil.

ABRAHAM’S FAITH

The faith of Abraham was a total faith. It was a saving and fruit faith and also a gift faith. Read Romans 4:13-25.

The Holy Spirit gave Abraham the gift faith to strengthen him in his waiting. This gift faith was given to make sure that the promised son will be born. Abraham’s faith concerning the promised son was not ‘an ordinary’ faith. It is the gift faith that gave strength to Abraham to wait for so many years for the promise of God to be fulfilled. It is the gift of Faith that helped him ‘not to waver trough unbelief’. It was the gift of faith that gave him strength to continue trusting God and to give Him glory. Here you see the reason why we are encouraged to pray for the gifts of the Holy Spirit, especially the gift of faith, so that we are able to endure until God’s promise is fulfilled. “And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith” (Lk 17:5). In Greek, the word ‘increase’ means to add to it, to do it again. The words written by Apostle Paul describe the faith of Abraham as a perfect pattern concerning two great things: justification by faith and the fulfillment of God’s promises. This is one of the greatest descriptions of faith in the Bible. These words are written not just as a historical fact about Abraham, but as a lesson for all of us.

God promised Abraham a son and thru that son, he will become the father of many nations (Genesis 15). God said that Abraham’s descendants will be like the stars on the sky or like the sand on the seashore. At the time God promised this great blessing, Abraham was old and had no children. Sarah, his wife, was also too old to have children. God’s words gave Abraham hope for the future. He had faith in the hope given to him by God. Against any natural hope, Abraham chose to believe, to have faith, in the hope given to him by God.

Lesson: God alone gives the true living hope. God alone fulfils the hope that he has given. This is what God told Jeremiah when the political situation with Israel was hopeless. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jer 29:11-13). God gives hope to His child. God wants you to trust Him to fulfill that hope. Your future is connected to God’s hope. Christ in us is “the hope of glory” (Col 1:27). The hope of glory is the hope of resurrection and going to heaven. You need to seek God and pray without ceasing. You need to draw closer to God, to search Him faithfully and passionately. That is the purpose of the hope. Trust God that He will fulfill the promise He gave to you. God gave us a living hope that cannot die (1 Pet 1:3-5). This hope connects with the resurrection power of Christ. It leads to the inheritance prepared and reserved in heaven for us. This inheritance is incorruptible and undefiled; it cannot be damaged or destroyed. It does not fade away because it is not of flesh or temporary things. It is the reward of the Holy Spirit. We have an inheritance that will never be touched by death, stained by evil, or faded with time; it is death-proof, sin-proof, and age-proof. This inheritance is also fail-proof because God guards and preserves it in heaven for us. It is wholly secure. Absolutely nothing can undermine the certainty of our future inheritance. Hallelujah!

Abraham believed God for his living hope, that he will indeed be the father of many nations. The promise came to pass. Abraham is indeed the ancestor, the founder, of the three main religions in the world: Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. The total number of Jews, Christians, and Muslims as of now, is about 4,3 billion people. We are told that Abraham received the promise by faith alone. Selah!

Abraham’s faith gave him power to believe three major revelations:

*Abraham believed that God’s promise to give him many descendants will come to pass. It is faith that helped him to believe the mighty promise that he will be the father of many nations. See here the power of faith to connect with God’s promise and to sustain it until it is fulfilled.

*Abraham believed that among his many descendants, the Savior of humanity would come. “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,” who is Christ” (Gal 3:6). With eyes of faith, Abraham saw Christ from afar and he believed in Him. Jesus told the religious leaders: “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad” (Jn 8:56). It was faith that helped Abraham see Christ and His plan of salvation. By faith, Abraham became born again!

*Abraham believed that not only the Jews, but even the Gentiles will be saved by faith. Abraham is the natural father of the Jews and the Muslims. But he is the spiritual father of all the Gentiles who believe in God. Jesus said: “And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 8:11).

Abraham’s faith:

*Faith believes in God’s Word alone. “he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken” (Rom 4:18). This is true faith. God has spoken and I believe it! Faith does not need people to confirm what God has said. Faith is totally satisfied with God’s Word alone. Selah!

*Faith is not discouraged by what the eyes see. Abraham and Sarah were too old to have a son. But faith he believed God’s word even when the mind could not understand. “And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb” (Rom 4:19). Faith does not meditate on the opposition. But faith is not blind. Faith knows that in the natural it is impossible to have the miracle, but faith choses to believe God’s Word. This faith gets stronger with time. Each battle strengthens it.

*Faith does not waver or shake through doubt or unbelief. Doubt listens to many voices, saying yes and no at the same time. Faith listens only to God’s voice and answers ‘Yes, Amen!’. “He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God” (Rom 4:20). By rejecting unbelief, faith gets stronger. Faith fights the doubts and conquers them. Like Aaron’s rod that became a snake, and swallowed the magicians’ snakes, so faith becomes the master of doubts. Faith is able to give glory to God even before the promise is fulfilled. Faith is a mighty worshipper. Faith makes a man strong and unshakable. Faith makes man a leader of men.

*Faith trust God’s power to do anything. “Being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform” (Rom 4:21).

*Faith is a champion! “Whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith” (1Jn5:4)

THE FAITH OF MOSES, ELIJAH, AND ELISHA

Moses had the gift of faith. When he pronounced judgment of Korah and his rebellious followers, God did what Moses said. “Moses said: “By this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, for I have not done them of my own will. If these men die naturally like all men, or if they are visited by the common fate of all men, then the Lord has not sent me. But if the Lord creates a new thing, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into the pit, then you will understand that these men have rejected the Lord.” Now it came to pass, as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground split apart under them, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods. So they and all those with them went down alive into the pit; the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly” (Nu 16:28-33).

Prophet Elijah said to King Ahab: “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word” (1 Kings 17:1). God took Elijah’s words personally and there was no rain for the next three years. The gift of faith was fed through prayers. “Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit” (Jam 5:17, 18). After the confrontation on Mount Carmel, where God answered by fire and the false prophets were killed, Elijah publicly declared that the drought ends, and rain will come. Elijah went to pray and told his servant to look toward the sea. The servant saw ‘nothing’. Seven times Elijah told him to look. On the seventh time, the servant saw a cloud as small as a man’s hand rising out of the sea’ (1 Kg 18:44). According to Elijah’s faith, the rain came.  

Using the gift of faith, Elisha spoke a word in the name of the Lord over the bad water in Jericho. God performed the miracle and healed the water according to the word spoken by Elisha. The healing of the water was permanent (2 Kg 2:19-22). The same prophet Elisha was insulted for no good reason by some young men. Through a gift of faith, he cursed these mockers. Two bears attacked and wounded these men (2 Kg 2:23, 24). Elisha spoke a word of faith and Naaman was healed of leprosy. This was a combination of the gift of faith, prophecy, and healing (2 Kg 5).

THE FAITH OF SHADRACH, MESHACH, AND ABEDNEGO

“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up” (Dan 3:16-18).

Daniel’s three friends refused to bow to King Nebuchadnezzar’s idol. They knew that the punishment will be death in the furnace. Their words of total confidence and the profound absence of fear prove that God gave them the gift of faith. They knew that God would glorify Himself thru life or thru death. Jesus came into the fire as the Forth Man. Their fearless faith testimony made the king to proclaim that their God is the greatest. “Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God! Therefore, I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap; because there is no other God who can deliver like this” (Dan 3:28, 29). Immediately, the king promoted them. What a testimony!

JESUS – THE AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF OUR FAITH

Our Lord Jesus Christ is always the best example in everything. We are commanded to look unto Him for help, strength, and faith. “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:2). The following are just two examples of the faith of Jesus: Jesus preached in the synagogue in His hometown Nazareth. The people got angry and drove Him outside the town to throw Him down the cliff. But Jesus, totally calm and fearless, passed thru them and went His way (Lk 4:28-30). This is a manifestation of the gift of faith. Then there is this wonderful story of how Jesus walked on the water to save His disciples (Matt 14:22-33). During the storm, the disciples’ faith was put to the test. They were to trust Jesus in the middle of the storm, knowing that they will not die. They could have trusted God for the gift of faith. But they did not. Their personal faith failed them. Jesus called it ‘little faith’. Jesus had to walk to them on water. This is a gift of miracles in display. This gift has a lesser value than the gift of faith. Jesus desires that we exercise faith in His saving power more than weeping and waiting for Him to save us. Selah!  

We are told that faith is the capacity to trust someone or something. For Christians, faith means to trust God. “Though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing” (1 Cor 13:2). Here we see that faith is powerful. It produces miracles. It moves mountains. Jesus cursed a barren fig tree with His Word. This is a gift of faith in action. The tree withered from the roots up. Read Mark 11:12-26

Jesus commands the disciples ‘to have faith in God!’. It means to appreciate faith as a principle of life. It also means to pay the price to increase faith knowing that God is pleased with faith, and He rewards it. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Heb 11:6). Jesus commands the tree to be withered thru the gift faith. This gift of faith can shake and remove mountains, both spiritual and physical. When the gift of faith works, there is no doubt at all. God answers all prayers or utterances in His name.  

God sent an angel to save Daniel from the lions. But when His Son died on the Cross, the evil lions killed their victim. There was no angel to save Jesus! But after He died that we might live! This is the Gospel of Christ crucified and resurrected! If you believe it, you are saved!

GEORGE MULLER (1805-1898)

George Muller was an evangelist, a true man of God, who clearly received the gift of faith. He was the founder of the Ashley Downs orphanage in Bristol, England. He cared for 10,024 orphans during his lifetime, and provided educational opportunities for the orphans to the point that he was even accused by some of raising the poor above their natural station in British life. He established 117 schools which offered Christian education to more than 120,000 children. When God put it into his heart to build these orphanages, he had only two shillings (7 Naira) in his pocket. Without making his wants known to any man, trusting God alone, over a million, four hundred thousand pounds ($7,000,000; more than 3 billion Naira)) were sent to him for the building and maintaining of these orphan homes. Through all this, Müller never made requests for financial support, nor did he go into debt. Many times, he received unsolicited food donations only hours before they were needed to feed the children, further strengthening his faith in God. Müller was in constant prayer that God touched the hearts of donors to make provisions for the orphans. For example, thanks was given to God for breakfast when all the children were sitting at the table even though there was nothing to eat in the house. As they finished praying, the baker knocked on the door with sufficient fresh bread to feed everyone, and the milkman gave them plenty of fresh milk because his cart had broken down in front of the orphanage. Muller wrote: “A brother in the Lord came to me this morning and, after a few minutes of conversation gave me two thousand pounds for furnishing the new Orphan House … “Now I am able to meet all of the expenses. In all probability, I will even have several hundred pounds more than I need. The Lord not only gives as much as is absolutely necessary for his work, but he gives abundantly. This blessing filled me with inexplicable delight. He had given me the full answer to my thousands of prayers during the past 1,195 days”. At the age of seventy, Muller began to make great evangelistic tours. He traveled 200,000 miles, going around the world and preaching in many lands and in several different languages. He continued his missionary or evangelistic tours until he was ninety years of age. He estimated that during these seventeen years of evangelistic work he addressed three million people. All his expenses were sent in answer to the prayer of faith.

QUOTES BY GEORGE MULLER

“Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible. There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible. Faith begins where man’s power ends. God not only orders our steps, He orders our stops. There was a day when I died; died to self, my opinions, preferences, tastes and will; died to the world, its approval or censure; died to the approval or blame even of my brethren or friends; and since then, I have studied only to show myself approved unto God. We should not shrink from opportunities where our faith may be tried. The more I am in a position to be tried in faith, the more I will have the opportunity of seeing God’s help and deliverance. Every fresh instance in which He delivers me increases my faith. God delights to increase the faith of His children. Trials, obstacles, difficulties and sometimes defeats, are the very food of faith. When sight ceases, it is the time for faith to work. The greater the difficulties, the easier it is for faith. As long as human possibilities for success remain, faith does not accomplish things as easily as when all natural prospects fail”.

THE FAITH OF DANIEL IN THE LIONS’ DEN (Daniel 6).

Daniel, like Joseph, was blessed by God. The name ‘Daniel’ means ‘My God is the The Judge’. In this story, you see that the decision of the heavenly tribunal overruled the earthly court. Hallelujah! Daniel was 15-16 years old when he was taken hostage and exiled to Babylon. He was 81-83 years old when he was thrown into the Den of Lions. He had lived in a community of unclean people and served under four pagan kings for almost 70 years. Even after all those years the Bible still says he had an excellent spirit. In fact, Daniel’s adversaries themselves admitted that Daniel was blameless. King Darius promoted Daniel. The satraps were regional tax collectors. But promotion is not protection against wickedness. These wicked greedy jealous people decided to kill Daniel. They knew that they could find a fault only in Daniel’s relationship with his God. The satraps flattered the king who was a proud man. Darius thought he is a god. The satraps lied to Darius. They said that all the leaders including the governors have agreed to make a new law. But Daniel was not there. They convinced him to write a decree that for the next 30 days, none should pray to any other god except to Darius. The decrees of a Persian king were unchangeable because he was thought to speak for the gods, who could never be wrong and thus never needed to change their minds! Flattery works only on proud men. Lesson: The devil knows your weakness. “A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet” (PV 29:5).  Daniel knew what was going on. He could have avoided praying for the next 30 days. But using the gift of faith, fearlessly, Daniel continued to pray and give thanks to Jehovah God, as he was doing all these years. Daniel’s life was in great danger. But he did not compromise, did not fight back, or run away. Why? Because Daniel had faith in God! God was the source of Daniel’s security. Daniel did not trust in his political position, status, titles, or wealth. Lesson: Unfortunately, some people who openly profess that God is the source of their security actually have their security elsewhere. Their true colors are exposed only during spiritual warfare. Let us not be like such people but learn to trust God alone for both protection and provision, in good times and in bad times. Lesson: God may save you from trials, but like with Daniel, God may save you through trials. This is for His greater glory!

In the Bible, lions are a symbol of wicked people. David said: “My soul is among lions; I lie among the sons of men Who are set on fire, Whose teeth are spears and arrows, And their tongue a sharp sword” (Ps 57:4). He prayed that God would break their teeth. “The wicked are estranged from the womb; They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies. Their poison is like the poison of a serpent; They are like the deaf cobra that stops its ear, Which will not heed the voice of charmers, charming ever so skillfully. 6 Break their teeth in their mouth, O God! Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!” (Ps 58:3-6). The devil is like a lion. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen” (1 Pet 5:8-11). Jesus is called the Lion of the Tribe of Judah who destroys all other wicked lions. “But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals” (Rev 5:5).

In this story there are three miracles:

*King Darius had a sleepless night in his palace. With all his wealth and entertainment available, he could not sleep. He discovered that he was foolish, manipulated by his ministers. Even with the crown on his head, he was a weak man. He could not save the best man in his kingdom.

*The fact that Daniel stayed alive the whole night with the lions, without any wound, that is the greatest miracle in the story. In the natural realm, God who created the lions, gave them the appetite to kill and eat. But God intervened and overruled the natural law. The lions may be wild, but they do not kill and eat until God allows them to do it. “The young lions roar after their prey and seek their food from God” (Ps 104:21). We are told that Daniel lived with the lions ‘by faith in God’. In the lions’ den, Daniel had two options. He could have cursed the lions so that they die. That could have been a gift of working miracles. The second option was to exercise the gift of faith. In that case, the lions will still be alive, but they will be powerless to kill him. He chose the option of faith. Daniel, “through faith… stopped the mouths of lions… out of weakness were made strong” (Heb 11:33, 34). The gift of faith manifested in Daniel the whole night. He was calm and relaxed when the king was anxious and guilty. Daniel kept the lions alive so that they would eat his enemies. What a story!

Daniel is a type of Christ. “Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him” (Mk 1:12, 13). When Darius asked Daniel how he survived, Daniel said it was God’s angel that made the lions calm. Here we see that the gift of faith trusts God to send angels to rescue from danger or death.

*The third miracle is instant justice. King Darius applied the law and paid life for life. Daniel’s enemies who deceived Darius were sent into the same den of lions. This time, there was no mercy, no faith, and no angels. The lions got their natural appetite back and killed the enemies.

Finally, The king made a decree that the God of Daniel is the only living God who does miracles.  “King Darius wrote: To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. For He is the living God, and steadfast forever; His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed, and His dominion shall endure to the end. He delivers and rescues, and He works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions. So, this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian” (Dan 6:25-28).

Please note that God is sovereign, and He is not obliged to rescue anyone. He may choose which one of His children will live and which one will perish for His glory. Thousands of believers were fed to wild beasts during the Roman persecution of Christians. God’s ways are far different than our ways. Don’t attempt to figure out how God thinks. Just know whether good or bad, God has a higher purpose in everything that happens to us. In this story, God kept Daniel alive, but He did not spare Daniel’s enemies. Together with their wives and children they died in the lions’ den.

Lesson: sooner or later, God will definitely avenge us. During trials, resist the temptation to punish your enemies for vengeance belongs to God, not to us. As Christians, we are to follow the Lord Jesus’ command to love our enemies, pray for our persecutors and leave vengeance on God. Trust God in all situations. God always has a higher purpose. It is because of Daniel staying in the lions’ den that God took the glory. At that time, Babylon was a city with a population of 200,000 people. The population of the entire kingdom would have been ten times more. When king Darius issued the new decree, all of these people came to know the God of Daniel as the one true savior. Lastly, Daniel was promoted even more. The enemies tried to stop Daniel’s progress and promotion, but they failed. They paid with their lives for that. Daniel’s influence continued among men, friends, and enemies. Daniel’s light so shines that people give glory to God!

The lions’ den became the angel’s den! Praise the Lord!

Lesson: Daniel laid a good foundation as a teenager when he decided not to compromise his faith (Daniel 1). His faith stood the test of time. Daniel had an excellent spirit. In Hebrew it means an extraordinary spirituality, an attitude of life that surpassed all others. His life, choices and behavior were blameless. The enemies could not find any fault! Daniel was good, faithful, honest, kind, in everything that he did. He submitted to authority even when the authority was pagan. The three wise men who came from Babylon to see Baby Jesus, possibly have been influenced by Daniel’s testimony more than 500 years in advance. What a testimony! “For by it (by faith) the elders obtained a good testimony” (Heb 11:2).

God works with faithful people. Like Daniel, we continue to pray, study the Bible, and attend church, no matter the trials. Faith and duty work tighter. From Abraham and Daniel, we see that age alone is not a barrier in working for God. The idols of today are success, material wealth, and pleasure. God has not finished with you until He wins! Worship the Lord!