The Gift of Faith

God has granted or given to sinful, ungodly men, who are enemies and haters of Him, the gift of saving faith to those whom He draws to His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. If you are saved today, you were saved not by your own human faith: the kind of faith that sits in a chair not knowing if it will hold you or not; human faith that believes youll get out of bed every morning and put your feet on the floor; human faith that takes its next breath as if it was promised to you, or generated by you because you've done something right. No, we arent speaking of human faith, because human faith will not save you. Ephesians 2:1 says that men are dead in trespasses and sins, walking to the course of this world, and sons of disobedience. Because men are spiritually dead, their human faith is dead and cannot do anything to please a Holy God, who is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on iniquity.






There is a supernatural faith which comes to the one God draws to Himself to believe on His Son, Jesus. Saving faith is a gift, given to the elect by God, and this saving faith is kept by the power of God and will never fail or be snuffed out, but will endure until the end. Saving faith is not of ourselves, therefore men cannot boast about it. Lets look at the scripture to see how saving faith which leads to salvation is a gift, given by the Soverign Almighty God, to those He forknew and predestined to be conformed to the image of His dear Son.


John 6:65 No man can come to me unless it has been granted him from the Father.
“Coming to Christ is faith. But no man can have that unless God gives it to him. This explicitly
teaches that God gives the faith to come to Christ. Note also that this verse is similar to vs. 44,
“... unless the Father who sent me draws him.” When the Father irresistibly draws a sinner to
Christ, He grants saving faith to him.
2 Peter 1:1, “...to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours...”
If faith is received, then it follows that faith is given. We do not give ourselves saving faith; it has
to be given to us. Note that Peter says that all Christians have received this faith. Faith is a gift
for all believers; there are no exceptions. And it is the same gift of faith in every Christian.

Phil. 1:29, “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but to
suffer for His sake.” God grants two things to every person when he becomes a Christian:
saving faith and persecutions for that faith in Christ. Justas every believer should realize that
God sovereignly gives us persecutions, so we need to recognize that faith is a sovereign gift,
too. Paul uses the word “grant”, as in John 6:65. The word speaks of a sovereign bestowal from
a superior.
John 3:27, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from Heaven.” John the
Baptist had been a great prophet. He realized that this was not his doing. The gift of prophecy
was a sovereign gift. By the same standard, no Christian can have faith unless it is given to him
from Heaven (that is, from God). Notice how the text uses the two verbs “receive” and “given”.
God gives, we receive.
I Cor. 3:6, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.” Paul preached the
Gospel and thereby planted the Gospel seed. Apollos followed up on that with further preaching
and teaching. But God “gave” the increase. Some versions render this, “God was causing the
growth” (NASB). God alone causes the Gospel seed to germinate. It is a sovereign gift of God
alone.
I Cor. 4:7, “And what do you have that you did not receive? But if you did receive it, why do
you boast as if you had not received it?” Paul reminded the proud Corinthians that they had
nothing to boast of. Spiritual gifts were sovereignly bestowed, not earned (cf. ch. 12). By the
same standard, no man can boast of his faith, for even that faith is a gift. All Christians have
faith, but if it had not been received as a gift, then they could boast. Such is the case with those
who deny that faith is a gift. In effect, they are boasting, “Well, salvation may be a gift, but at
least I contributed to it with my faith.” No, even that faith is a ; gift. Hence, “Let him who boasts,
boast in the Lord” (I Cor. 1:31. Cf. Eph. 2:9).
I Cor. 12:3, “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.” Now obviously Paul is
not saying that no one can utter those three words unless by the Holy Spirit. Unbelievers are
capable of that. Rather, Paul is saying that no one can say it as a heartfelt confession of faith
unless the Spirit gives it to him (cf. Rom. 10:9-10). Did you notice how this verse sounds like
John 6:65?
I Cor. 12:8-9, “For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit... to another, faith by
the same Spirit...” Paul is reiterating that the charismatic gifts are gifts, not badges of merit.
“Faith” in this verse is not saving faith, but the faith to accomplish great things for God (George
Mueller is frequently cited as an example). The principle is valid, however. Faith is a gift.
Someone has pointed out that miracle-working was a gift, and would anyone claim that it was of
their own power to work miracles? Of course not. The same is true with faith.
Gal. 3:23, “But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the Law...” Paul is speaking
of two developments in this passage: the macrocosm of the history of God’s covenants, and the
microcosm of individuals coming to faith in Christ. Just as the Law preceded the coming of
Christ, so a person is under bondage and condemnation before Christ comes into his life. Note
the words “before faith came”. We speak of our ”coming to faith”, but it might be more Biblically
precise to say “before faith came to me.” Not only do we come to faith in Christ, but Christ
comes into us with the gift of faith.
Gal. 5:22, “The fruit of the Spirit is... faith...” Some versions render this as “faithfulness”, but
faithfulness springs from faith. Either way, we see that faith is something grown in us by the
Holy Spirit. He produces it, not us.
Rom. 10:17, “So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Some versions
have “word of Christ” or “preaching of Christ”. In either case, Paul’s point is that faith is given by
458
means of the Word of God. Note also how it is given. Through the Word, God opens the ears of
the heart (cf. Gal. 3:2, Matt. 13:9, 13). That is part of regeneration. And in that, He also gives the
gift of faith.
Matt. 13:11, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven,
but to them it has not been granted.” Notice how the word “granted” is again used. Knowledge
of these spiritual mysteries comes through the Word and produces faith. But it is sovereignly
bestowed only on a few, not all.
Luke 22:32, “I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail...” Christ knew that Peter
would soon deny Him. But Christ had given him faith and prayed that that gift of faith would be
revived. We receive the gift of faith, from God in answer to Christ’s prayers. Hence, he will
continue to supply us with faith to the end (cf. Phil. 1:6).
Acts 18:27, “...those who had believed through grace.” Why is it that some people believe
and others do not? It is only because God has extended special” grace to some and not to
others. When He gives this grace, they believe. Without such grace, no one can believe. All
Christians “believe through grace”, God’s gift.
I Tim. 1:14, “and the grace of our Lord was more abundant, with the faith and love which are
found in Christ Jesus.” Paul is recounting how Christ saved him (vss. 12-13). He is sure to
remember that he was converted by God’s grace. Grace was freely given to Paul “with faith and
love”. When God converts a sinner, He gives him grace, love and faith. Faith is as much a gift
as grace and love.
Heb. 12:2, “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith...” How is it that we
can fix our eyes on Jesus in faith? We can believe in Him only because He began it in us. He
“authors” it. Moreover, if He starts it, then He will also finish it. Faith is the gift, which the Good
Shepherd gives to His sheep.
1 Pet. 1:21, “...who through Him are believers in God...” Christians believe in God unto
salvation, but only “through Him”, that is, Christ. If it were not for Christ’s gift of faith, nobody
would believe savingly in God

These refrences and commentary are from Dr. Curt Daniel from his book "The History and Theology of Calvinism"

Holiness is not Contagious..

Holiness is not Contagious from Rayshawn Graves on Vimeo.



Audio - Holiness is not Contagious mp3






This sermon comes from Haggai 2:10-14, and in these verses the Lord poses an illustration through His prophet, Haggai, to the priests. The summary of verse 12 is that Holiness is not contagious. The holiness which God Himself lights in our lives at the point of conversion is not contagious, meaning that it will not transmit to things or rub off on people that we desire. God calls us to be lights, and not matches and only a Holy God can spark holiness in the life of an ungodly sinner. Christians cannot take the culture and sanctify it, Christians cannot sanctify personal ungodly relationships, music, sights, or friendships which are not of God. To the sinner, Holiness is not contagious because good works, or doing good things which would be deemed as service in God's eyes will not make you holy. All of our righteousness is as filthy rags outside of Jesus. Church attendance, feeding the poor, serving in ministries, and baptism and communion will not make the ungodly person holy. Only salvation from sin and God's wrath and a personal experience and relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ will cause one to be holy.

Unholiness is contagious means that sin is contagious, unrighteousness is poisonous, and ungodliness is infectious. Sin corrupts the heart, soul, mind and every faculty of every human being. Sin is not learned, its a nature every person is born with and without the grace of God, all men would be the darkest and most wicked of all creatures. A "Christian" who chooses to willingly play in sin, and willingly contaminate themselves with the unfruitful works of darkness will only find out that at the end of the road they really had no Christianity at all. Everyday we come in contact with gossip, lies, adultery, pride, malice,anger, jealousy, and so many more sins and they are all brought on by ungodly people. The temptation to give into these works of the flesh may be small or great, but the Christian is kept by the power of God and has dominion over the power of sin through Christ Jesus.

God has called Christians to a life of holiness, for without holiness no man shall see the Lord. Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall by no means enter the kingdom of Heaven. The life of holiness is not taken begrudgingly by the Christian, but rather the Christian loves the way of holiness, and would have no other way. Because Christ was sanctified, we must be sanctified. Christ is the only one who can sanctify, who can transform. His holiness calls us out, sanctifies us and sets us apart from the world, although we are in the world we are not of the world. Our holiness is not contagious....

A Message to President Obama...

This is an awesome video by John Piper, an awesome man of God....the rest speaks for itself...glory to God!

Nature Change

Nature Change - audio






This Sunday I ministered on Transformation, coming from Romans 12:1-2. The Word of God calls us to present all of who we are to God, as living sacrifices, daily getting on the altar of holiness and conformity to God's will and lighting the match and staying there. The Bible calls us to stay on the altar even when things get heated, throughout good times and bad times, the Christian is to give God all of who he is. The way that men are able to present themselves as holy acceptable sacrifices to God is through making the decision to be sanctified by God and not conforming to this world. Non- conformity to this world means that the Christian is not to be molded by the external, shallow, empty devices of this age or fashioned by this world, the culture or any of its standards. Many on this path of conformity would even attempt to conform Christ to an image rather than conforming themselves to the Jesus who never changes yesterday, today and forever. Today we see largely in the American church a "Jesus" that embraces homosexuality, abortion,and the external devices of the flesh. We see a "rock" Jesus, a black, white, asian, and Indian "Jesus" a hip-hop "Jesus" a "contemporary" Jesus. This conforming Jesus relates to men by "meeting them halfway" and relates to their culture. The God of the Bible relates to all men equally and did so by becoming flesh, being born of a woman, and walking the earth as a man for 33 years. Neither Christ or any of the Biblical figures in the Bible ever conformed to the culture in order to reach men. God has done everything necessary to relate to man.....by becomming a man.., and for men to say that He cannot relate to this present age without all these external shallow methods that will "attract people" is blasphemy.
We must be transformed on the altar of the living sacrifice ,if we are ever to see the kingdom of heaven and enter in. We must be born again, made a new creation, putting off the old man and putting on the new and we must be sheep in sheep's clothing...not sheep in wolves clothing..we must be good trees with good fruit,and houses built on the rock. We must be transformed by the renewing of the mind, the changing of our hearts and by the washing and regeneration of the Holy Spirit.

In the Beginning was the Word...

John 1:1-5 audio click here


This is a Bible Study teaching I did on John 1:1-5. I originally intended to get through verse 5, but I only managed to get through verse 3. Lord willing, verses 4 and 5 should be up by next week. The Lord has been showing me the importance of expository teaching and preaching, and how the Christian can get a full understanding of the Word of God when they "study to show themselves approved" verse by verse in context of the Word. So many times, we grab "one liners" and cling to those scriptural cliches, when the Holy Spirit wants to inspire and give us the full revelation of scripture that He gave to the men who were writing these eye witness accounts by the unction of the Spirit of the Lord.
I dont know how long it will take me to even get through the first chapter of John, but I encourage you to take this journey with me, or even begin one of your own, taking a book from the Bible and unpacking it. It will greatly benefit your life spiritually, mentally and in your daily walk.

The Narrow Way

The Narrow Way - audio ( click here to hear the sermon )


This sermon of the "Narrow Way" is the second part to the previous sermon I gave called "The Broadway". The Narrow Way and the Narrow Gate is the only way to salvation and eternal life. The Narrow Gate represents Jesus Christ and His unchanging goodness and severity. Men must conform to enter this gate rather than conforming the gate to fit their desires. We cannot add to or take away anything from Christ and His gospel and men must be saved on His terms. The narrow gate is fixed and intolerant, it is a personal gate which only allows entrance for one at a time. The cares of friends, family and the pleasures of this life will not fit through the gate, and the Christian on his journey will have to forsake all to enter in. Will you put forth all effort to enter in?




The narrow way is not an interstate where men can speedily rush twoards their desires and pleasures eventually leading to everlasting destruction. The narrow way is a path where men are given a lamp unto their feet and a light that gives guidance one step at a time. The narrow path is a disciplined path, a path of holiness; it is not trodden begrudgingly but those who are on it love it, they would have no other way. The narrow way is a lifestyle change, a total course change, from going with the world and its ways, to going totally against it in all things
Are you on the narrow path?

The Broadway

The Broadway - audio


This is a sermon that I was graciously given the opportunity to preach last Sunday, January 11th. The title of the sermon is called "The Broadway" and it comes from Matthew 7:13-14. All men start off on the Broad way and the road is wide, generous, pleasurable and accepting, all the while deceiving men by telling them that it leads to eternal life. This path leads to the unbearable wrath of God in hell, and many are on the path and enter through its wide, accepting gate. Because men start out dead in trespasses and sins, having their reason and understanding darkened, we were totally helpless to do anything that would take us off the broad way. The broad way is an interstate where men are traveling at high speeds, going from newborns to aged men in their lives, for they are only a vapor, and there are no rest stops or U- turns on the way.
Only Christ, because of the love for which God loved us, can open men's blinded eyes and pour out grace upon sinful hearts and take men off of the broadway which leads to destruction, and set them on the narrow path which leads to eternal life. I pray that you will be blessed by this message and look for "The Narrow Way" to follow next week...

Another Gospel

4For if someone comes and(H) proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept(I) a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.
2 Corinthians 11:4




The gospel of Satan is not a system of revolutionary principles, nor yet a program of anarchy. It does not promote strife and war, but aims at peace and unity. It seeks not to set the mother against her daughter nor the father against his son, but fosters the fraternal spirit whereby the human race is regarded as one great "brotherhood." It does not seek to drag down the natural man, but to improve and uplift him. It advocates education and cultivation and appeals to "the best that is within - It aims to make this world such a comfortable and congenial habitat that Christ’s absence from it will not be felt and God will not be needed. It endeavors to occupy man so much with this world that he has no time or inclination to think of the world to come. It propagates the principles of self-sacrifice, charity and benevolence, and teaches us to live for the good of others, and to be kind to all. It appeals strongly to the carnal mind and is popular with the masses, because it ignores the solemn facts that by nature man is a fallen creature, alienated from the life of God, and dead in trespasses and sins, and that his only hope lies in being born again.
A.W. Pink











In these days we must be careful not to fall into the deceptive trap of Satan's gospel, which presents another Jesus, another Spirit ,and another Gospel. Notice that this false gospel doesent come as Bhuddah, Mohammed, or Scientology or any other "religious" form...It takes the name of Christ, and as Jesus said in Matthew 24:4-5 "Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,[a]' and will deceive many." The false gospel isnt entirely different from the true pure gospel and the false Christ doesent appear totally contrary to the true Word made flesh...likewise the "other Spirit" doesent portray itself to be any different than the Holy Spirit...so whats the deception? The false Christ appeals to the people, he preforms signs and wonders (Mark 13:22), he brings hope, joy, and peace and happiness to people, and once again ...He comes in the name of Christ.The false Christ gives no glory to God, he brings glory to himself and preaches a man-centered message the focuses the glory on man. "Another Spirit" feels like the Spirit, it ignites like the Spirit, it moves you like the Spirit, but it caters to the soul and the flesh, to the emotions. The false spirit doesent convict of sin, it promotes self- esteem and appeases sin, it doesent convict of righteousness, it advises you of how to conform to the world while trying to serve Jesus too...it tells you how to serve two masters. The false spirit also doesent convict of judgment, it tells you that you can have your best life now here on earth and not worry about eternity. It doesent inform you that there is appointed unto everyman once to die and then the judgment. The false Spirit also doesent discern between what is acceptable in God's eyes and whats not. It believes that it can take the things of the world and conform them to the image of God. The false Gospel doesent inform men that they are sinners, depraved criminals in God's eyes and that His wrath is set upon them. The false Gospel tells men that they can do good works and evangelical activities in order to be right with God. The false Gospel preaches a salvation that is based on the sincerity of man's decision in praying a repeated prayer rather than telling Him to cry out to God with all his being...

Another quote by A.W. Pink in conclusion:

The apostles of Satan are not saloon-keepers and white-slave traffickers, but are for the most part ordained ministers. Thousands of those who occupy our modern pulpits are no longer engaged in presenting the fundamentals of the Christian Faith, but have turned aside from the Truth and have given heed unto fables. Instead of magnifying the enormity of sin and setting forth its eternal consequences, they minimize it by declaring that sin is merely ignorance or the absence of good. Instead of warning their hearers to "flee from the wrath to come" they make God a liar by declaring that He is too loving and merciful to send any of His own creatures to eternal torment. Instead of declaring that "without shedding of blood is no remission," they merely hold up Christ as the great Exemplar and exhort their hearers to "follow in His steps." Of them it must be said, "For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God" (Rom. 10:3). Their message may sound very plausible and their aim appear very praiseworthy, yet we read of them—"for such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves (imitating) into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing [not to be wondered at] if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works" (2 Cor. 11:13-15).

You will Suffer - John Piper

This is an amazing video done by John Piper discussing Suffering for Christ. Will you suffer for Christ? Are you part of the fellowship of His sufferings, bearing your cross along the narrow path, enduring shame and tribulation that comes with the most precious enduring faith? Many today believe that they can have a Jesus whom they will not have to endure for. They believe that the Christian should be able to live in a world where both worldly, carnal people and genuinely converted children of God should be able to get along compromisingly. This is a deception. We will have tribulation in the world, but we should be of good cheer, because He has overcome the world. We possess a most precious treasure in earthen vessels, and we will be knocked down at times, but we will never be knocked out! Be blessed by this video!

The Trial Sermon of B.R. Graves

This is it!! I really cant stand watching myself, so i only watched this once,...but I pray that this be a blessing to you as it was to me..God is Infinitely and Joyously Good and this day was truly awesome. I preached on the Refiner's Fire and may the same power that was present on this day be present in your hearing this. God's words are spirit and life and may they be exactly that as you hear this message....Ive also posted some pictures below that were taken during the service ( A big THANK YOU to Donnie Burgess who recorded the video, and Carla Burgess who took these awesome pictures)


Refiner's Fire from Rayshawn Graves on Vimeo.

Resources for the Family

SermonIndex.com just posted a new web page on "The Godly Home". I believe that this is a very helpful tool for the Christian Family and any family so that they may be rooted in Christ and produce a godly seed (Mal. 2:1). It is so so so important that the Father be the head of his home, the Mother be called blessed by her children, and that the children be obedient to parents.

These are all things that the Bible commands and today when we live in a culture where the family is torn apart by things such as divorce, miscommunication, and even murder, God's will is that the family flourishes amidst the enemy's attacks against it. In a day where church participation and volunteering and service in ministry is so heavily pushed into the minds of its members, the family can at times be dismembered and scattered in the name of "Christian service".

Now dont get me wrong, Christian service and volunteering is needed and vital because it provides the opportunity produce fruit in our lives, but when it is at the expense of being at church 7 days a week and the family gets neglected, then its a distraction of the enemy. I pray that you be blessed by this site on "The Godly Home" and may its resources and teachings strengthen the FIRST ministry that God has called you to...Your Family


The Godly Home: A ministry of SermonIndex

Wow...Well Said!!

This was a post, and a response that I saw on Sermonindex.com. PaulWest, one of the moderators of the site responded to this brother with truth and boldness that truly blessed me. He is speaking about the baptism in the Holy Ghost and what it really means, versus what man has made it to be(knowingly or unknowingly).


Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Your description of how the Pentecostal Churches today go about their initiation of the baptism of the holy Ghost was most discouraging. If I were a new believer reading this I would want nothing to do with any of the spiritual workings of God, lest I'd be deceived."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PaulWest:I realize your concern, and yes, what I described is most discouraging. However, my hope is not that it would discourage a believer from having anything to do with the "spiritual workings of God", but that it would instead discourage a believer from seeking supernatural manifestations of God in today's typical charismatic setting; furthermore, when I think of the spiritual workings of God (as you put it), I am actually inclined to think more of fruit than gifts. Genuine fruit is more excellent, and certainly more demonstrative of God's true "spiritual working" in the life of a believer than anything else...including supernatural gifts, which are not partial and can (and often do) flow through the most ungodly of vessels.

In just about every case that I know of, believers abounding in fruit automatically abound in gifts - gifts of helps, governments, tongues, healings. The difference here is that the gifts exhibited by fruit-bearing believers do not strut or need emotional music to kick-start a service. I am 100% opposed to today's charismatic agenda of just "come forward and get baptized in the Holy Spirit if you want to" with the obligatory tongues to seal the deal. I've seen enough of it; heard enough testimonies, and observed the final product of the majority of these ostensible baptisms, and in the end almost all of the recipients have nothing but a testimony of how they spoke in tongues and just felt God's awesome presence all around them.

I always ask them: "How do you know it was God's presense you felt and not a soulish euphoria?" and they can tell me nothing more but circular reasoning. Mind you, if the genuine fruit of the Spirit followed - with an increased appetite for God's Word and prayer and a sobriety and fearless burden to proclaim the gospel - I would not have to ask this question, but as a youth pastor I beheld these baptisms taking place on many occasions...and afterwards only to see the kids go back to their XBoX video games and cliques and gossip and unholy dating. How can this be? What we see brethren is wholesale deception going on right before our eyes, and with ministers (often without the genuine baptism themselves) telling these kids that they're baptized in the Holy Ghost and congratulating them.

The kids that do get genuinely filled with the Spirit go in the opposite direction, and I will readily admit that a kid can get filled at one of these meetings, but such is the exception and not the rule. In fact, most people I've talked to (and many on this site) have been filled with Spirit while alone, communing with God or reading the Bible or during a period of quiet prayer time...sometimes with tongues, sometimes without. God then sends people your way and the gifts just happen - sometimes the gifts of healing, sometimes helps; sometimes governments, sometimes tongues. It's spontaneous, not at all premeditated or worked-up or planned out.

Brother Paul "


Praise the Lord for this truth! Ill write more later....