Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval.
...And 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 seek Him.
...All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them. (Hebrews 11:1-2, 6, 13-16; please read all of this chapter)
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But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in you.
...Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Cor. 4:7-12, 16-18; please read all of this chapter)
Dear saints, all those who have the Light of God shining in your hearts, and have beheld the glory of God shining in the face of His Son, Jesus Christ (2 Cor: 4) - I thank our Heavenly Father for all of you in this momentous hour. And I exhort you all in love and in Christ to fix your eyes and hope squarely on the only Savior who has come into this world, and is able to preserve you until the time of His appearance. Hold on and hold fast my brethren, and grip ever tighter with all the strength and determination His grace provides, for the testing of our faith in this hour will either weaken it or make it stronger and more steadfast.
In a recent post, we started to consider the topic of faith and proposed that it was nothing more or less than fixing our eyes on the Faithful One!
Faith... is simply turning our attention; fixing our eyes on Jesus - the Way the Truth and the Life, the Author and Perfecter of Faith, the Beginning and the End of all the plans and purposes of the Most High God!
In this message, the Lord willing, I would like to examine this further, and consider why our faith might be so important to the Father. Please reflect on the passages listed above, if you have not done so already. I believe that it is essential in this hour that we truly comprehend these matters, as the days ahead may prove to be very unsettling to our condition and place in this world; and our faith in our God and His word, will largely determine our readiness at His coming.
The first thing I would like to mention regarding faith is that it seems, by all indications, to be extremely important to our God. He takes it very personally, in other words, when we are willing to invest all that we are - past, present and future - in Him alone, and in all that He has communicated to us by His word. In Hebrews 11:7, we see that when a man steps out on God's word in obedience and trust, it is accounted to him as nothing less than righteousness. It is pleasing and precious to God when we take Him solely on His word; when His word, standing on its own, is sufficient for us. For all that He is, and is doing, and will do, is bound up in the word that He has communicated to mankind through all of His various means and instruments. And by this Word, we most definitely mean all that the Scriptures associate with it, including the Living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, who was the Word made flesh (see John 1).
No when the Lord communicates His Word, either through His Son, the Scripture, His messengers, or personally though that still small voice of the Spirit, it is often in complete opposition to everything that our eyes and experience know to be so. We are to have absolute assurance that everything He has promised will be, but that assurance will by no means come through empirical evidence or the "things which are seen". It is within this conflict between what the Lord says will be and what "appears" to be, where our faith is tested and refined over time, as we wait for His promises to be fulfilled. For not only does the Lord give us His word, but embodied in that is His expectation that we will be willing to wait for Him to perform it in entirety, precisely as He has declared. His Word is given therefore, not just to communicate His plans and purposes, but to bind to Himself all those who will receive it by faith.
Brethren, as we all know, it is a relatively simple thing to confess that you 'believe in God'. It is quite another matter altogether to 'believe God'. And most certainly, He must know that we will believe Him, and trust Him, not only in the isolated or 'high' moments of our lives, but beyond that such that we will be willing to entrust Him with all that we are, and forsake all things in this world. We then will be prepared to wait however long it takes for Him to restore all things and to fulfill all things in His Beloved Son!
ASSURANCE! CONVICTION! HOPE! Did you notice these running through the passages above? Clearly, all of these are rooted solely in His word and all that He has determined for our future. Our faith must bring us to the place where we know that He is more than just God and that He is omnipotent perhaps (which He most assuredly is), but to the point where we trust Him to fulfill everything that He has said He will do. That He is Faithful! That He is a God who keeps His word! That His word cannot fail; that it will endure forever! That His word is sure and certain, and perfect in every way, flowing out of the very attributes of God that are the foundation of all we believe! That the same Word that breathed life into the physical universe, and created (from nothing) the very planet we are living on, and the environment that sustains us, will also bring forth every other promise that He has uttered.
But He answered and said, "It is written, 'MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'" (Matt. 4:4)
Folks, I am sitting here now looking out the window on a clear morning, at trees, and grass and birds, and cars driving by. This is very real to me, as my eyes convey them to my brain. And because my eyes see these things, I have an assurance that they are real; that they are so. No one in fact needs to convince me otherwise because I trust what I see. I require no other witness to prove the veracity of what I see with my own eyes in other words.
In similar fashion, the Bible speaks of a reality made available to us by faith; and it is a faith based on a word. But not just any word from any source. This is why we must believe that "He is" and that 'He is a rewarder of those who seek Him". Such faith in Him joins us to Him in a very personal and poignant way. It is our personal pledge to the Father who gave that which He loved the most so that we could even begin this life of faith. And I do believe He smiles down on us whenever we simply trust Him, with child-like faith, and when He knows that we are ready and willing to live by His every word. In fact, He attributes this to us as righteousness, as something pleasing to Him. This is the point dear Christian where our faith moves beyond mere external doctrine or religion. Here is where it becomes intimate and personal, and we make that vital connection with the Personality that created and sustains all life. For we have determined deep in our hearts (in the inner man) to trust Him unequivocally, to abide in His promises, to endure however long it takes for all of His promises to be fulfilled.
Indeed, the Lord of All Life must know that we will not equivocate, that our love for Him and our faith in Him is certain! He must test and refine this faith throughout our lives, day-by-day, moment-by-moment, as a means for us to come to know Him and revere Him, and abide in Him! He must know that our faith is resilient and steadfast; that though our experiences will often seem to contradict His Word and leave us perplexed and distressed, we will in fact hold fast to Him; that we will not leave Him nor forsake Him.
He must know that we have come to the place where all that we are is fully invested in eternity (for this is in fact our ultimate habitation); that we place little relative value on things which pass away, and have no real life in them. He must know that we are willing to endure hardship, confusion, perplexity, pain, loss, suffering, whatever it takes - and that such testing will not loose the bond of faith and love that binds us to Him.
He must know that we agree with Him in all things, and actively seek a reward that is out ahead, established under better promises, a "better country" offering an "eternal weight of glory" far beyond anything we could ever compare or imagine.
Now as easy as this is to write, I know that in our daily walk it is hard; so very hard it seems. And I don't ever want to suggest it to be otherwise. I know that many of you are at this very moment are being afflicted, perplexed, struck down and persecuted, and in many ways being brought to the end of yourselves; that your faith is undergoing tremendous trial and testing. I also have a prophetic sense that as the "birth pangs" (see Matthew 24) marking the end of this present age increase and become ever more numerous and convulsive, we will be tested even more.
Yet I also know (and need to know more to be sure) that His grace is more than sufficient for us, and that from these broken vessels of clay, the power and majesty of the Living God can come forth as a testimony of His grace, glory and power to all with eyes to see.
Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
It is nothing short of His grace and our faith in Him that keeps us from giving way to despair, abandonment, and ultimate destruction amidst such intense trials and the seeming contradiction of our circumstances with His promises. We must learn to look out farther than the moment, or our own lives even, for His plans and purposes encompass all the world, and the reconciliation of all things in Christ. It is a perfect plan from a perfect God and it cannot fail! He has declared it and invited us by His grace to share in its execution, fulfillment and enjoyment!
But we must be ready! Yes we must be made ready! We must prove ourselves faithful and steadfast to Him! Our bond to Him cannot be broken! This is why, I believe, our faith is so important to our God. This is why He takes our faith in Him very personally! This is why all of the champions of faith in Hebrews 11 are preserved there forever in honor! They were all willing to leave all and lose all in the present life, such that they might enter into His promise of something better; out there ahead beyond the horizon. And it so so comforting to know that they were mere human beings - jars of clay - like you and I.
Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. (James 1:8)
Notice in this passage how faith (associated with perseverance) in, and love for God are brought together. Clearly, we cannot go all the way with God in faith, regardless of what we are made to endure, unless we know Him, and love Him, and live by every word that He has breathed into this world. Note how James also suggests (in James 1:2-3) that the testing of our faith produces endurance, and that this endurance is considered "blessed" (see James 5:11 below) by God. Brethren, I am starting to see that the reason endurance is so highly esteemed by our Lord, is that it is the ultimate testament of our love for Him; that it reinforces over time the choice we have made to believe Him. And our willingness to endure with Him, and to be bruised and broken by Him (as He deems necessary), conveys to Him so much more than mere words or anything else that 'religion' esteems. It affirms most genuinely that we truly do love Him and have joined with Him in all of His eternal plans and purposes. Maybe let that settle in your spirit a bit.
Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near. Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door. As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful. (James 5:7-11)
I may be mistaken here, but it appears to me that our Lord most definitely returns or reciprocates our faith in Him with His grace and mercy. As surely as He has imposed the hardship and trial, He will also interpose the appropriate measure of grace, peace, wisdom and encouragement (whatever He knows we need really in order to endure and learn what must be learned). I must say that in my own personal experience recently, I am starting to see how wonderful this is, and I praise God for His kindness. I also know on another level that all things, including our faith, begins with His choice to claim us as His own. He will indeed complete all that which He has begun in our lives with Him, and we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us! Amen and Praise God for that!
Well, I think I will end there for now. I am hoping to draw some real practical and encouraging examples from the Scriptures in future posts to see how all of this fleshes out in the real world.
Take care my brethren. Grace and peace be with all of you. Pray always in the Spirit, and especially as you see the hour of His coming approaching. Care for one another, as the needs of the Body are made known to you. And please pray for us here that we will be about the Master's business as the hour draw near!
Your servant in Christ,
Wayne
