HAVE FAITH
| Faith according to the Bible is the assurance of things hoped for,
and the conviction of things unseen. In my words, it's being sure that
something we hope for will come to pass or become ours, and that even
though we can't see something physically, we believe it's there and it
will become visible in time. Hence our faith in Jesus Christ. We are sure that our hope of eternal life and forgiveness are realized in the person of Jesus who we believe in even though we can't actually see Him at this time. For we are saved BY FAITH, because of God's grace, and not because of our own efforts. It's only our pride that makes us think sometimes that we can impress God enough with our efforts to earn salvation. Worry and faith cannot coexist. When Jesus called Peter to walk towards Him on the water, Peter initially got out of the boat and successfully did so. He must have been momentarily elated beyond words. BUT then, he began to worry, the waves, the wind, this wasn't possible? As a result, he began to sink and Jesus had to stop him from drowning. What a lesson for us. I know that personally I often pray for something and then worry about what is going to happen if I don't get what I've asked for. I virtually try and make it happen by worrying hard enough about it. CRAZY isn't it? We get in God's way by worrying. We cancel our faith by worrying. We demonstrate to God our lack of faith by worrying. In effect, we tie His hands. Realize also, that prayer of itself has no power. I often hear people refer to the "power of prayer". I'm being pedantic I suppose, but prayer is simply communication. God is the power who provides the answers. We have to choose after we've prayed for something. Are we going to worry about it, or are we going to let go, have faith and allow Him to provide the answer to our request, even if the answer turns out to be not what we wanted or expected? If indeed we don't get what we wanted, we have to have faith that God knows what's best for us, and accept it. Faith increases through reading the Bible, listening to good Bible teachers, praying and seeing prayers answered, becoming more and more convinced of the reality of God as we grow older physically and spiritually, and as we surrender our pride and will to the refining work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
My two cents worth..... Keygar |
HAVE FAITH
What really is faith? One little boy in Sunday School was
asked that question and quick as a flash he replied, "Believing something you
know isn't true."
And I don't know about you, but I've often thought that's what faith was,
believing something that you know with your mind isn't true. Some kind of
overdrive that you push in with a button of some kind in your mind or your
emotions or somewhere as "they" say down in your heart, to get you to accept
something that you know with your intellect could not possibly be true. And so
many of us, in this world today are skeptical of the whole idea of faith,
because we think of it as something not connected with the ordinary processes of
the mind at all and actually opposed to the convictions of the intellect. And so
many of us who have been through some kind of education and especially some kind
of scientific education get the idea that to have faith you have to in some way
close your mind, or put your intellect to sleep, or, ignore the conclusions of
science and research.
That's absolutely ridiculous. Faith is not that kind of an
irrational thing at all. Faith, in fact, is something that you and I exercise
every day in our lives. And we've exercised it from the very moment we
were born. I suppose it's true that your mother even encouraged you to feel that
we could trust her when we lay in her arms. And we learned day by day that was
true, she would not drop us, that she was reliable, and we could put our faith
in her arms.
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HAVE FAITH (....take 2)
By Dave Hunt
Our family (Ruth, myself and our four children ages 8 to 15) "smuggled" a
suitcase of Bibles into Eastern Europe in 1967. Entering Bulgaria from Turkey,
we were sobered by our first sight of the Iron Curtain: the watchtowers at the
border, the barbed wire, guns, dogs and grim guards. We had no way to hide the
Scriptures and were searched thoroughly a dozen times, even to the lining of
Ruth's purse being ripped out. Suitcases were inspected repeatedly as guards
meticulously went through the VW bus we were driving. They never opened the
suitcase containing the Bibles. I believe in miracles.
The last time Ruth and I breached the Iron Curtain was in 1985, entering Russia
from Finland. The guards, who literally took our car apart with screwdrivers and
wrenches, found everything (we hadn't tried to hide anything) except one Bible
in my hip pocket. A few days before, an American couple coming in from Finland,
with only two Russian Bibles, had been arrested and deported. Beside Bibles we
had gospel tapes, a combination shortwave radio receiver, tape recorder and
duplicator, nearly a dozen heavy fur coats (it was August and we were from
California) for the wives of imprisoned pastors, etc. It seemed ludicrous to
attempt to pass a Soviet border with such obvious contraband.
I made no "positive confession," but offered a seemingly
foolish prayer that today's "faith" teachers would label "negative": "Lord, I'm
the worst 'smuggler' in the world. They have everything in their custody, but
please take it through, not for our sake, but for the sake of those who
desperately need it." Suddenly, without explanation, the guards gave everything
back and waved us on!
It is thrilling to read of those "Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought
righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the
violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made
strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women
received their dead raised to life again..." (Heb 11:33-35). Up to that point,
one might imagine that faith always brings escape from adversity. Such false
"faith" is taught today and sought by those who think prayer persuades God to do
our bidding. But read on.
The recital of the triumph of faith continues: "and others were tortured, not
accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: and others
had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and
imprisonment: they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain
with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being
destitute, afflicted, tormented; (of whom the world was not worthy:) they
wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And
these all...obtained a good report through faith..." (vv 35-39).
No distinction is made between those who escaped by faith and those who suffered
by faith. There is no suggestion that the latter were "negative" and could have
escaped like the others had they only "believed" or made a "positive
confession." Clearly, it is terribly wrong to equate faith
only with healing, blessing, success, prosperity, deliverance from adversity.
Faith does not persuade God to do my will but causes me to bow to His, even to
death.
While the Scripture says "the just shall live by faith" (Hab 2:4; Rom 1:17; Gal
3:11; Heb 10:38), that may mean dying for Christ. Many in China and elsewhere
are facing that honor once again; and it could come to us here before the
Rapture if our Lord should tarry much longer. The most
important fruit of faith is not the deliverance or blessing one prefers, but the
igniting of such love for God that one's greatest joy becomes obedience to His
will no matter the consequences. How else could those who were tortured and
killed and who suffered hunger and poverty be among the heroes and heroines of
faith?
Some readers may weary of our frequent warnings against false teaching and
practice so rampant in the church today. "Can't we just live for Christ, love
everyone and not be so concerned about doctrine?" is often asked. We live by
faith, however, and faith must have an object. What and in Whom one believes
determines one's life now and for eternity. No matter how loving and exemplary
one's conduct, if it is not founded upon God's truth there is no stability and
no reward.
Yes, some are so obsessed with finding error that they criticize almost everyone
and are known more for what they are against than what they are for. We must all
guard against searching for specks in others' eyes while ignoring the
two-by-fours in our own (Mt 7:3-5). One can be as clear as crystal on
doctrine––and just as cold and hard. That some, however, un-lovingly push
doctrinal correctness but fail to live it themselves does not change the fact
that sound doctrine is the only basis for true Christian living.
In pointing to himself as an example, Paul told Timothy, "But thou hast fully
known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity,
patience, persecutions, afflictions..." (2Tm 3:10-11). Notice how doctrine comes
first, and out of that flowed Paul's "manner of life, purpose, faith," etc. We
can't escape the necessity of being Bereans, sound in doctrine, by saying we're
"just going to live for Christ."
Paul's manner of life was rooted in the doctrine he believed, and thereby grew
into that purpose for which Christ had redeemed him. He was not his own but a
slave of Christ, purchased by His blood. From that doctrinal root (the truth
which had gripped his heart and to which he was totally committed) blossomed a
faith so strong that nothing could shake it. Thus he persevered in
"longsuffering, charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions...." A life without
such a foundation is wasted, purposeless and leads to eventual remorse.
The Jehovah's Witness knocks on doors and tries to live a moral life in order to
earn his salvation; a Christian does so out of love and gratitude to the One who
paid the infinite price for his salvation and pardoned him freely by His grace.
The Catholic goes to Mass because not to do so is a mortal sin that will damn
him and because he advances on his way to heaven by eating the literal body and
blood of Christ offered anew as a redeeming sacrifice upon the altar; the
Christian takes the symbolic bread and cup in grateful remembrance of Christ's
once-for-all sacrifice by which he is assured of heaven.
A life that is pleasing to God must be founded upon His truth and lived in
obedience thereto. As the psalmist said, "Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a
light unto my path" (Ps 119:105). There is a path along which we must follow
Christ (Mt 16:24); a path which Satan doesn't know and upon which he cannot
touch us (Jb 28:7-8; Is 35:8-9); a path of God's protection and guidance, a path
of obedient, loving service to Christ and to others––where love both lives and
speaks the truth (Eph 4:15). How tragic (and unloving) to live an otherwise
exemplary life of sacrificial service to others and yet fail to speak God's
truth.
Mother Teresa provided the classic example of compassionate and charitable deeds
divorced from truth. She said that her purpose was to bring her patients closer
to the "God" in whom they already believed; so that a Hindu became a better
Hindu, a Buddhist a better Buddhist, etc. (Vatican II says those of all
religions are somehow saved through the Church.) She tells how to witness for
Jesus:
One day they brought to our home a man with half his body eaten away. Worms
crawled all over him, and the stench was so terrible....As I was cleaning him he
looked at me and asked, "Why are you bothering?"
"I love you," I said...."For me you are Jesus coming in His distressing
disguise."...Then...this Hindu gentleman...said, "Glory be to Jesus Christ."
...He realized that he was someone loved. (New Evangelization 2000, Issue 9, pp
11-12)
Tragically, this "Hindu gentleman," though lovingly cared for physically, was
left in his spiritual corruption with all of his superstitions and false beliefs
intact. He was left in his sins to die without Christ, a Hindu who was "loved,"
but not loved enough to be told the truth that would rescue him from hell!
Time magazine asked Mother Teresa a number of questions in November 1989. Her
answers were revealing:
Q. Here in Calcutta, have you created a real change?
A. [We've] created a worldwide awareness of the poor.
Q. Beyond showing the poor to the world, have you conveyed any message about how
to work with the poor?
A. You must make them feel loved and wanted. They are Jesus for me...in
disguise.
Q. What do you think of Hinduism?
A. I love all religions....
How poor must one be in order to become "Jesus in disguise"? And how much money
or possessions must one acquire to cease being "Jesus"? This loving woman hid a
false gospel under emotional slogans. She launchd the ones she loves from a
clean bed into a Christless eternity and is praised for doing so! It is wrong to
preach about a future life in heaven while neglecting to help those who suffer
in this present life. Yet is it not equally wrong to fail to prepare souls for
heaven while caring well for their bodies on earth? Pastor John MacArthur
visited Mother Teresa in Calcutta in August 1988 and reported the following:
We asked her questions that might reveal her spiritual state. Her answers were
troubling: "I love and respect all religions" an unthinkable remark in light of
the hellishness of India's dominant religions.
"All my people die beautiful deaths," she told me. I am convinced Mother Teresa
is providing false comfort to the dying." (Masterpiece, Winter 1988, p6)
Yes, we dare not just mouth doctrine, but must live it. Don't forget, however,
it is doctrine, God's truth, that we must live. Truth held in the head that is
expressed only in words but not in deeds is hypocrisy. On the other hand, love
without truth is sentimentality. Parents who fail to discipline their children
(a veritable plague these days) do not really love them. "As many as I love, I
rebuke and chasten," Christ says (Rv 3:19). Must we not do the same if His love
is in us?
How thrilling to know that God has a purpose for our lives. Yet many Christians
sink into discouragement, discontent, depression and despair, feeling that their
lives are too difficult, unhappy and meaningless. That should never be the case
for any true believer. But what of the elderly, bedridden, or just ordinary
Christians with seemingly little influence upon others?
A life which is devoted to loving and praising God (no matter how lonely and
hidden from men's eyes) may bring a greater reward in heaven than that of
someone who is on radio, television, writes books, and is known worldwide. Be
true to God first in all purity of heart devotion to Him, in diligent study of
His Word and in prayer "without ceasing" (1 Thes 5:17). Trust Him to be your
strength, to live His very life through you in the power of His Holy Spirit.
Such a life of faith brings joy beyond expression!
Every life impacts others. It is not enough simply to "live a good life" without
standing up for the truth and contending "earnestly for the faith" (Jude 3).
Yes, our speech must be "always with grace" but it must also be "seasoned with
salt" (Col 4:6). We must be kind, gracious, patient, loving, tender,
compassionate. Yes, "love never fails" (1 Cor 13:8). But it would be a failure
of love not to correct those who are straying from God's truth.
Neither the world nor the church likes correction. Many Christian parents fail
to discipline their children, thinking they are being kind, sympathetic and
loving by giving in to their whining demands. Parents thereby train their
children to be disobedient, lazy, undisciplined, self-indulgent, lacking in
concern for others and contemptuous of authority. Paul taught his "son in the
faith" to "endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ" (2 Tm 2:3).
Of Christ it was said, "...who for the joy that was set before him endured the
cross" (Heb 12:2). We can endure the persecution that comes from being true to
Christ if we know the joy that awaits us. We can even know that joy now in the
midst of trial. Christ's joy was not only in having us in His presence, but even
more than that, in having done His Father's will. To know that we have been true
to Him, that we have taken this talent of time and being which He has entrusted
to us (Mt 25:14-30) and have used it to His glory, brings joy not only in this
life but throughout eternity.
God has made us eternal beings. Every person ever born will continue in
existence forever either in the ecstatic bliss of God's presence (Ps 16:11) or
in the unimaginable horror and remorse of separation from Him forever. The
choices we make, the manner of life we live and our attitude toward God, His
Word and others carry consequences not only for this life but for eternity. Life
on earth is short; eternity never ends. That fact is awesome to contemplate and
in itself should cause us to live by faith in Him.
We walk by faith. Faith is not a power to
aim at God to get blessings from Him, but faith opens the heart to God's will
and brings obedience to His Word. Knowing we are in God's hands and that He
loves and cares for us doesn't guarantee that we may not be persecuted and even
killed for His sake. But it assures us that He will be with us and will give us
the grace to endure in His strength and with joy, whatever trial comes, so that
He may be glorified in our bodies, "whether by life or by death" (Phil 1:20).
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