So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17).
Never forget this most important instruction. Without the Word of God, you will not have faith. Soak yourself in the Word of God. Read it whether you understand it or not. Let it sink into your spirit-being, let it build up your spirit-being until it is bigger than your soul and body. The Word of God is the only thing that feeds your spirit-being, and the only part of you that God talks with is your spirit-being. He is Spirit and He speaks with your spirit. Everything He says to you directly always agrees with what His written Word says, so it is imperative that you know the Word of God. When you read the Word of God, your spirit-being is listening! I would like it if every Christian were required to attend a Bible School where they would learn the Bible and all the subjects found therein. What a wonderful world this would be if everyone lived by the Word of God.
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6 But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down from above) 7 or," 'Who will descend into the abyss?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach): (Romans 10:6–8).
Faith is always “right” with God. He looks at our faith and is pleased. But notice the instruction here. Once you have established your faith by the desires of your heart and the certainty of the Word of God, you are not to try to figure out how to make this faith work. Your plans will come to nothing. Wondering how it is going to happen will get you nowhere. The one and only thing you can do is to speak out your faith. Cooperate with God by letting Him bring your faith to fruition while you proclaim what He is doing for you (even if you can’t see it)! Once you have the thing desired, you no longer need to use your faith. Therefore, it would be a little silly to keep on proclaiming what has already become reality. 1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God (Romans 5:1, 2).
Because of our faith, we have peace—peace with God Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and with His Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. Can you image how dismal life is without that peace? Can you remember? Always suspicious, always fearful of lightning bolts blasting out from the throne room to punish us, or somehow change us. Instead we stand in grace. Our faith gives us direct access into the grace we have been given, and there we rejoice in our hope as God’s glory fulfills our faith. God’s glory is His Presence blasting out His blessing, His anointing, His promises that He always keeps, all to give us a favorable life—our hopes fulfilled. Thanks be to God! 17 (as it is written, "I have made you a father of many nations") in the presence of Him whom he believed--God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; 18 who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, "So shall your descendants be." 19 And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb. 20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform (Romans 4:17–21).
I find Abraham’s story wonderfully optimistic! Way beyond the years of child-bearing, he believed Sarah in her dotage would conceive a child. In today’s world, women rarely give birth to a child after the age of 40. Given that they live to be around 80, child-bearing happens in the first half of their lives. Sarah lived to be in her 120s. Half of her life would have been in the 60s, yet she gave birth to Isaac when she was 90. They believed God. They were happy with His promise. They probably danced around in their tents and laughed a lot. That’s how faith acts. It speaks about the coming event as if it has already happened. Though they cannot see, since the thing does not yet exist, they talk about it as if it does exist, and they can clearly see it with their imaginations. Faith is the exact opposite of practical reasoning, and it does not waver. Faith does not swing back and forth from belief to unbelief and back again. If God said it, He is fully capable of performing what He has said, and He, Himself, dances with you when you believe Him for impossible dreams! And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account (Hebrews 4:13).
Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth (Luke 18:8)? 14 For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, 16 Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (Romans 4:14, 16). Who are the heirs of this world? Are they the “goody-two-shoes?” The ones who keep all the rules and perform all the rituals? Well, that leaves me out! I really want to do everything just right, but I find I simply can’t do it. When I should be turning left, I find myself turning right. I meant to say one thing, and out of my mouth popped something else. Thank goodness none of these things make me qualified to be an heir of God, a fellow heir of Jesus Christ. By my faith I am a child of God. All we who are born again are children of Abraham—by our faith, not by our behavior. Abraham set the precedent, and what he inherited, we inherit. He believed God when He promised impossible things, and so they came to pass. Our faith works the same way. When we believe God, even though all we can see is impossibility, we receive. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account (Hebrews 4:13).
“When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth (Luke 18:8)?” For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith (Romans 4:13). Abraham is called the heir of the world! What caused him to earn this honor? Was he brilliant? Was he talented? Was he handsome? Did he know all the laws by heart? Did he follow every one of the 612 laws the Israelites had that Moses would give them later on? No. His one quality was that he trusted God. I would like for my faith to impress God. Wouldn’t you? And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account (Hebrews 4:13).
“When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth (Luke 18:8)?” 9 Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. 10 How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. 11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also (Romans 4:9–11). Is there any outward sign, like circumcision, that indicates our acceptance by God? No, our faith is our seal of righteousness. Be clear about this. Faith does not mean that you believe God exists, that Jesus is His Son, and that the Holy Spirit is their agent on the earth. Even the devil believes that. Do you want to be in his camp? This faith mentioned in Romans is our level of trust in God. Do we trust Him unconditionally? Like Abraham? Faith is our outward sign. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account (Hebrews 4:13).
“When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8.) But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness (Romans 4:5). When we stop trying to do good works to win God’s approval, when we simply trust Him to justify us, our faith is called righteous. We trust in Jesus the same as we trust our Father, God. We trust the blood of Jesus to justify us, sanctify us, and make us right, or in right standing, with God. Our sins are completely forgiven. If I am in good standing with God, then He must be able to trust me. Sometimes I will get very serious with God and ask Him questions about myself. For instance, I ask Him if there is anything about me that displeases Him. He always has an answer right on the tip of His tongue! I ask Him if He trusts me. His answers are getting better. He seems to be pleased that I can be trusted with short term assignments; long ones demonstrate my lack of discipline. Even if I disappoint Him, I am still righteous in His eyes. Why? Because Jesus is my Lord. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account (Hebrews 4:13).
“When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). 3 For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? 4 Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written: “That You may be justified in Your words, and may overcome when You are judged,” (Romans 3:3,4). Paul is quoting Psalm 51 which David wrote after Nathan, the prophet, confronted him after his affair with Bathsheba. Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight-that You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge (Psalm 51:4). David was known as a man after God’s own heart, yet He could not let David get by with murder, nor could God sweep the knowledge of the adultery under the rug. God is faithful to His Word. Never does He vary. That’s the kind of faith in Him, in His Word, in His Blood, that we should have. Look at what God says about His Word: So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it (Isaiah 55:11). Be faithful like God is faithful! And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account, (Hebrews 4:13).
"When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth,” (Luke 18:8)? For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith,” (Romans 1:17). Like my friend that I wrote about last week, we should all be living by faith. If we are going from faith to faith, that must mean that our faith is growing. My friend lived out on the prairie in a mobile home, all alone, no means of transportation, for one year while she learned what it meant to live by faith. Grace followed her, led her, blessed her, brought people to her, had groceries delivered to her, paid her electric and water bill, picked up her garbage, and more. She couldn’t have done anything for herself in the desert place where she lived. In the city she could have gotten a job and taken care of herself. Most people take care of themselves and say they are living by faith. I’m on furlough at the moment, home in the States to raise money to go back to France. I’ve been living by faith for ten years, but now I have a new assignment. I’m moving to Paris, the most expensive city in the world. I must raise my support to meet the need. Someone offered me a temporary job doing security at the local convention center at a very good salary. When I heard the offer I was VERY tempted, but was I taking care of myself or was I following God? I knew it was not God’s voice that spoke to me about the job, and I turned it down. Almost immediately I received eight invitations to speak and sell my books. Ninety percent of the time, the Lord tells me to write. Unless I am writing or distributing my books, I am taking care of myself. When I obey, I am taking care of Him. Which would you prefer? |
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