Faith Cometh By Hearing

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This is a sermon based on the text found in Romans 10:14-17. It emphasizes the importance of hearing the Word of God in order to increase our faith. Specific examples are shared with the speaker's recent experiences relating to the death of his father.

Written Excerpts:

Introduction:

Faith is a major theme throughout the entire Bible.

A few years ago I preached a short series of messages on Hebrews 11 which highlights many individuals from the OT because of their faith and what it did for them.

Jude 3 uses the phrase, “the faith” to refer to the content of Christian belief.

Acts 16:31 “Believe (put faith in) on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house.” This refers to what we often call “saving faith.”

Romans 4 & 5 speak about “justifying faith” which is another way of describing “saving faith.”

Gal. 2:20 includes this phrase, “the life I now live I live by faith in the Son of God…” This refers to the constant walk of faith that is required to maintain a vibrant and up-to-date relationship with God.

The same point seems to be emphasized in the phrase, “the just shall live by faith,” which appears in three different places in the NT (Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11 & Heb. 10:38).

Proposition:

If faith is necessary in order to please God (Heb 11:6), to obtain salvation (Acts 16:31), and to live our everyday lives, and if faith comes by hearing the Word of God; then it is imperative for every Christian to hear the Word of God regularly and faithfully.

Transition:

Today I want to take a little while to speak about the importance of hearing the Word and make some applications to our individual lives.

I. Hearing is believing

No doubt we all have heard the phrase, “Seeing is believing.” Well, there is also some truth to the fact that “hearing is believing.”

Stanford Univ. – Hearing something 7 times forms an opinion, and need to hear it 7 more times to internalize it. You need to hear something at least 11 times to completely change a prior false conception.

Unknown source – The average American spends 65% of their time listening. (Someone once said that the reason God gave us two ears and one tongue is so we would do more listening than speaking!)

Rom. 10:14 …how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?...

Hearing the Word of God and planting that Word in our minds is absolutely essential for faith to grow in the heart of an individual. In the message of this verse there is an unstated, but implied process of reasoning that must take place for someone to hear the proclamation of truth and then embrace that truth and accept it. But, in order for truth to be embraced and accepted, it must be heard first.

Which brings me to my next point…

II. Hearing implies purpose and planning

I am sure that there are numerous times when I have accidentally heard something that I wasn’t purposely planning to hear. I am also sure that some of those times resulted in me learning and embracing some new truth or belief that I hadn’t held before. However, I am convinced that most of the time there must be deliberate planning in order to hear the Word of God and receive the truths that it teaches.

The Scriptures make repeated references to the idea of “hearing the Word of the Lord.” There are at least 67 times in which the sense of hearing is connected or tied with the Word of God in the same verse. For example, “Hear the Word of the Lord;” “hear the word;” “hear the word of God.”

The OT prophets especially repeated this phrase to emphasize the importance of the people and leaders of Israel listening to what God had to say to them. They were not speaking their own ideas or words, but they were speaking for God. As believers, we need to remember the importance of hearing God’s word in order to increase our faith and nurture our faith.

It alarms me to realize the number of people who claim to be people of faith and people who believe in Jesus Christ, but they do not take seriously the importance of regularly hearing the word of God proclaimed and explained. Many of those same people will lament their lack of faith in comparison to others they might know.

Many, many years ago a Gallup Poll revealed that 60% of Americans attend church at least once a month. Only 12% read their Bibles.

It is as simple as this: If you want your faith to grow and increase, you must regularly and purposely get yourself in a place where you can hear the word of God, because “faith comes by hearing.”

III. Hearing produces results
 
2 Chron. 34 – we read about the reforms in the nation of Israel under the leadership of King Josiah. He had the scrolls (God’s word) that had been found in the temple read aloud to the people, which resulted in a number of public changes to conform to God’s Word.

In one of our text verses, Rom 10:14, we read, “Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” It goes on to connect the ability to call on God with having heard the Word of God. So, one of the results of hearing the Word is salvation.

In another one of our text verses it reads, “Faith cometh by hearing…” So, increased ability to believe God’s Word and God’s promises comes by hearing the Word.

The more we hear the word, the more we will have the ability to believe.

Conclusion

I want to conclude today by sharing some recent experiences relating to the death of my father.

Share details of spiritual attacks I felt prior to his death. Share details of Dad’s spiritual attacks.

Verses that the Lord gave to me for my own confidence and to share with dad.

2 Corinthians 5:1, 6-8 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. ⁶ Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: ⁷ (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) ⁸ We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

John 14:1-3 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. ² In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

If I hadn’t had heard and hidden the word of God in my own heart I would not have had the “ammunition” needed to fight off the devil when he attacked.

Song I heard played on the radio as I started the drive home after my dad passed away. This Is How It Feels to Be Free!