OuT oF pRoPoRtIoN 

  The Measure of Faith

KJV

Romans 12:1-6  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.4 For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;

 If you have been under the impression that God has given every man a little faith to get by on these Biblical Greek definitions might bring some insight.

 Dealt: Strong’s number 3307

 Original word- meriðzw

 Transliterated Word-Merizo

1.     to divide

a.      to separate into parts, cut into pieces

1.     to divide into parties, i.e. be split into factions

b.     to distribute

1.     a thing among people

2.     bestow, impart

Measure: Strong’s number 3358                                                                                                                        

Original Word-meÑtron

Transliterated Word-Metron

1.     measure, an instrument for measuring

a.      a vessel for receiving and determining the quantity of things, whether dry or liquid

b.     a graduated staff for measuring, a measuring rod

c.     proverbially, the rule or standard of judgment

2.     determined extent, portion measured off, measure or limit

a.      the required measure, the due, fit, measure

I believe that God has given us The “Measuring Rod” of faith, the “Standard of Judgment”, Jesus Christ (The Measure of Faith).

God’s measuring system isn’t exactly the same as ours, He can take a little and give a lot and then have more than He started with.

Matthew 14:16-21 But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat. 17 And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. 18  He said, Bring them hither to me. 19 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. 20 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. 21 And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.

Faith: Strong’s number 4102

Original Word-piðstiv

Transliterated Word-Pistis

1.     conviction of the truth of anything, belief; in the NT of a conviction or belief respecting man's relationship to God and divine things, generally with the included idea of trust and holy fervour born of faith and joined with it

a.      relating to God

1.     the conviction that God exists and is the creator and ruler of all things, the provider and bestower of eternal salvation through Christ

b.     relating to Christ

1.     a strong and welcome conviction or belief that Jesus is the Messiah, through whom we obtain eternal salvation in the kingdom of God

c.     the religious beliefs of Christians

d.     belief with the predominate idea of trust (or confidence) whether in God or in Christ, springing from faith in the same

2.     fidelity, faithfulness

a.      the character of one who can be relied on

Hebrews 11:1  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

The Proportion of Faith

Romans 12:6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;

Proportion:

A compound word from: Strong’s number- 303 & 3056

303 Original Word- a)na/

303 Transliterated Word-  Ana

1.     into the midst, in the midst, amidst, among, between

3056 Original Word- lo/gov

3056 Transliterated Word- Logos

1.     of speech

a.      a word, uttered by a living voice, embodies a conception or idea

b.     what someone has said

1.     a word

2.     the sayings of God

3.     decree, mandate or order

4.     of the moral precepts given by God

5.     Old Testament prophecy given by the prophets

6.     what is declared, a thought, declaration, aphorism, a weighty saying, a dictum, a maxim

c.     discourse

1.     the act of speaking, speech

2.     the faculty of speech, skill and practice in speaking

3.     a kind or style of speaking

4.     a continuous speaking discourse - instruction

d.     doctrine, teaching

e.      anything reported in speech; a narration, narrative

f.       matter under discussion, thing spoken of, affair, a matter in dispute, case, suit at law

g.     the thing spoken of or talked about; event, deed

2.     its use as respect to the MIND alone

a.      reason, the mental faculty of thinking, meditating, reasoning, calculating

b.     account, i.e. regard, consideration

c.     account, i.e. reckoning, score

d.     account, i.e. answer or explanation in reference to judgment

e.      relation, i.e. with whom as judge we stand in relation

1.     reason would

f.       reason, cause, ground

3.     In John, denotes the essential Word of God, Jesus Christ, the personal wisdom and power in union with God, his minister in creation and government of the universe, the cause of all the world's life both physical and ethical, which for the procurement of man's salvation put on human nature in the person of Jesus the Messiah, the second person in the Godhead, and shone forth conspicuously from His words and deeds.

I believe “The Proportion of Faith” is found in the midst of Jesus Christ.

Dine-In Faith

I believe that a lot of Christians today have developed a drive-thru or take-out faith, the fact is it’s Dine-In only. You must abide in Christ.

John 15:1-8 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

Psalms 91 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. 3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. 4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. 5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; 6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. 7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. 8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. 9 Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; 10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. 11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. 12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. 13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. 14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. 15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. 16 With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

Abide in faith until we abide in person.

Matthew 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Galatians 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

Hebrews 12:1-3 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 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 is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.

Revelation 3:7-12 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; 8 I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. 9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. 10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. 11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. 12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

 Plan for Man

From the beginning we can see that God has mainly desired two things from man, obedience and faith in Him

Matthew 6:24-34 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. 25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they 27  Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

I heard the story of the famous tightrope walker, Charles Blondin, when he pushed the wheelbarrow across the Niagara Falls. He had went across and came back, then he ask if the crowd thought he could push a man across, in the wheelbarrow. The crowd yelled that they believed he could, then he ask for a volunteer and the mood changed. One man came forward. They believed he could do it but they did not have faith in him.

We are faced with the same question Adam and Eve faced. Which tree will you partake of the Tree of Life or the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Philipians 3:7-21 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. 8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 9  And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: 10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; 11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. 12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. 13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. 16 Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing. 17 Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. 18 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.) 20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

Ephesians 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

Note: definitions from The New Testament Greek Lexicon

Word Hog Ministries

Bobby Musgrove Jr.