Faith - Part 1

Heb. 11:6 "But without faith it is impossible to please Him"

1 Peter 1:7 “These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

Hebrews 11:1-39 “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary describes faith in this way:  “11:1-3 Faith always has been the mark of God's servants, from the beginning of the world. Where the principle is planted by the regenerating Spirit of God, it will cause the truth to be received, concerning justification by the sufferings and merits of Christ. And the same things that are the object of our hope, are the object of our faith. It is a firm persuasion and expectation, that God will perform all he has promised to us in Christ. This persuasion gives the soul to enjoy those things now; it gives them a subsistence or reality in the soul, by the first-fruits and foretastes of them. Faith proves to the mind, the reality of things that cannot be seen by the bodily eye. It is a full approval of all God has revealed, as holy, just, and good. This view of faith is explained by many examples of persons in former times, who obtained a good report, or an honourable character in the word of God. Faith was the principle of their holy obedience, remarkable services, and patient sufferings. The Bible gives the most true and exact account of the origin of all things, and we are to believe it, and not to wrest the Scripture account of the creation, because it does not suit with the differing fancies of men. All that we see of the works of creation, were brought into being by the command of God.” 

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When I started going through the wilderness with God, there are times I truly did not know what to do and I needed help figuring out my next step. As I went through this process, I understood Abraham’s decision to go to Egypt when there was famine in the land that God planted Him. I also understood why he made the tremendous mistake of having a child on his own. Prior to my own wilderness with God, Abraham was a symbol of faith but mostly his defiance and his cowardness stood out.  But, I came to understand when God is working out the gift of faith in us, because we are not mature enough and the nature and substance of faith is found in not knowing, to add to the ordeal, we don’t understand God’s way well enough, so we assume if we take matters into our hands by using our own God’s given common sense, we should be fine. We do not see it as a disobedience to God and we do not mean to sin either. 

As I was seeking help to understand how to move forward with God, I went to three different leaders of the Church (two were elders) on three completely separate occasions I got the same scripted answer every single time. The answer was for me to start doing stuff, choose between the choices that I have and pray God to block my way if He does not want this for me. In their defence I have to say most of the pastors all throughout the internet, the mega television evangelists and many more out there have all used this analogy. What is strange is that I have seen pastors who have solid faith in God also used this analogy. Sometimes, I am not sure if they use it because they want to please more people out there or if it is due to the lack of experiencing God. Either way, God taught me that this way is wrong on so many levels, I would need to write a specific post to talk about it. 

About 18 months after I left the Church, the guy who led me to Christ invited me to work with him in church planting. As I went there to investigate things I was already on my fourth year in the wilderness and I was still waiting for God’s leading before getting involved in any kind of big venture.  While I did not ignore any opportunity offered to me, but I always left it to God to make the call. So, I was talking to two people that I met and these people were already involved in the Church planting ministry, they were trying their best to entice me. I started explaining to them how I am waiting for God to show me where exactly He wants to use me before I make a commitment to any project. One of the past elder of the Church that I left behind, interject himself in the conversation as if because of his status he had something that I did not have. So, he interrupted us to tell me how wrong I was to wait for God to make decision for me and that we are given common sense and we ought to use it. Somehow he thought this would be a big finale as he stood there, and said: “there is nothing wrong with using common sense along with God.” – I did not say a single word and since the people I was talking to did not know Him, no one made any comments. 

What this guy did not know is that years prior to this encounter with him,  God showed me how disobedient he was and how in spite of everything that God put Him through, (believe me when I tell you he was going through a lots of trials in his life) God was not able to get this guy to a place where he would stop and think in the spirit before making the numerous decisions He made in order to go forward with God. As God is my witness I am telling you the truth. At one point God showed me so much about this guy, I wrote an email to my Bible group leader and explained all that I have been seeing and how deep this guy disobedience was getting with God. I received an email back saying “you cannot confront him.” I replied back that was not my intention.  You see, the reason I sent the email to my group leader was because they were all part of the same leadership consortium and I was hoping that someone in the leadership would get hold of what was going on and perhaps come alongside of this guy at one point. Did I handle it wrong? YES BIG TIME.

This was during the time God used to show me things about people and I did not know I was supposed to pray for them. Nevertheless God always sustains me when I get bad advice from people and He always walk alongside of me to make sure I stay the course.  Walking in the Spirit is so essential to our Christian faith. This ex Church elder never realized that his walk with God is the equivalent of the Israelites walk of faith that we find when reading 1 & 2 Kings. We find that many kings failed because they could not bring themselves to the point of destroying the high places their predecessors erected. So, they have learned to worship God on their terms. (Man’s way) If we say we believe in Scripture, then we have to believe that God recorded these things about the high places in 1 & 2 Kings for a reason. While we might not have high places in the same way, today’s Christians have to deal with high places in their hearts.  

The truth is, when it comes to faith we can’t be satisfied with words we repeat like in Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”  We have to learn to live diligently as we are told so that we can grasp the opportunities that God bring into our lives to get us there and to test us. Yes we find solace and great joy in repeating those words, but God wants us to take them one step further by allowing Him to work them out in us. That’s what’s pleasing to Him. 

My God Is Worthy Of The Risk!

Hebrews 4: 12 “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

Hebrews 5: 13-14 “Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.  But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”

Hebrews 6:11-12 “We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”

Hebrews 10:38-39 “But my righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.” But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.”

Hebrews 10:29 “ How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?”

The book of Hebrews is one of my favourite books of the Bible. I have acquired this tenderness for this particular book because God used it to open my eyes and helped me understand two major things in my walk with Him. The first one is that the way we live what we claim to believe, truly matters to Him. The second thing I learned right at the onset of going through the wilderness process with God, is that there is no such thing as living the true Christian life while sitting on the fence spiritually speaking. I remember this vividly, because when God got hold of me and turned my life upside down He taught me that we could sit on the fence at a spiritual level. I was surprised because the people, who were the pillars of the Church I used to attend to, a few years back, told me that I was sitting on the fence based on the Church’s activities I was willing to take on. In order to rectify the situation I obeyed them to the point where I took on more work than I could chew.  

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Later on, when God took my hand like a child even though He did not say a word, I knew I was leaving the people that I learned to love like a true family, behind. It was painful to me. Because I did not know God, so even though He took me by the hand, His hand could not take away the pain of leaving my family behind. (Like a child leaving behind mom and dad) He knew I was in pain.  He then went on explaining how this stage of my walk with Him was important. He showed me how all that I have been doing so far was just “dead works”. Sadly, it was not only me. The whole Church looked like a bunch of rebellious lost sheep that would not follow Him, His way. It was dead works all over. It was sad because this is such a big and busy Church. Then He said “where I am leading you, none of them can take you there.” Then all of the sudden, the pain that I felt changed and I realized it was an honour that He chose me and I should join Him willingly, with gladness in my heart.

In Christianity there is no room to just live a life where we “sample” and we cannot stand at the door not being sure whether we want to go in or remain out. (Spiritually speaking) In fact, if you are truly walking with God, you will find at one point, not only He needs you to move forward with Him, but He will also destroy the bridge behind you. Like the Israelites, once they crossed the red sea it was a place of no return and they had no idea where God was leading.

In my case, while I did not have a red sea, but He showed me a bridge that led in and out of the world I used to know and this bridge was destroyed behind me. I vividly remember the time, because I looked back in my spirit, and He saw what I did. For a few seconds I felt, the Christianity God sets out to show me was too hard and I said to myself, I can’t take more of this thing. Even when I was experiencing Him left right and centre, the pain became too great in the practical life.  Another thing, I felt for a moment, because of His love, it would be okay even if I do not continue with Him.  My life was painful, lonely, I was jobless, the shame was overwhelming, and I could tell there were more storms that looked more like a spiritual typhoon coming my way.  I was about to lose every single thing I ever possessed and I was on my way of becoming homeless. I looked back because in my mind I felt, if I took the situation in my own hands, I might have a chance to stop the landslide that became my life.  It is an amazing to see how in my spirit, I looked back, like lot’s wife looking back at what was lost and like the Israelites holding onto Egypt like a dog with a bone. 

When I turned back, even though I have done it in the spirit, but I knew it was a desire of the flesh. I could see the contrast between the spirit and the flesh. In a fraction of a second, God showed me the bridge was no longer there and it felt as if He left me by myself to reassess. By then, I was a Christian for about seven years. As I reassessed and took all what I knew of God into consideration, I chose Him. Not because I knew Him well, but because I knew by then He was real. I remember after I chose Him, while I was in pain, in my heart I knew it was all dung that I had to leave behind. My only concerned then was to ask Him “where am I going to sleep God?” Even that, I needed to let go and trusted Him to take care of things for me one step at the time. This looking back I referred to, is not just for me. It is a universal truth about our relationship with Him. It is a test of faith in the worst moment of our lives. It is a test to see if we would trust Him and choose Him over again even though the road ahead is rough and plain nasty.

Strangely, even though God showed me there was no way back but I still had a decision to make within me. Am I going to continue with Him or not? I remember saying to myself “I know too much now to accept the natural life as my life, then the only logical step was to continue with Him.” The funny thing is, when I look back today, I realize I knew nothing compare to the learning, the spiritual growth and the transforming life that God has for us on this path that lead to the narrow gate. Yet, it was enough for me to trust and obey.

In the book of Hebrews the writer is sharing with us how important it is to continue because Christ is worth the risk, He is worth the pain and He is worth our trust. The writer also spelled out for us how sitting on the fence has its consequences. The warnings are all there for us and we are free to provoke Him with our presumptuous faith. The writer also shared with us in 6:9 “…., We are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation.”

The greatest things that accompany salvation as far as my heart is concerned, is about finding God through Christ. The very covenant God made with us is “Him being ours” as we walk with Him. It is strange to see how we hang on to some verses of the Bible as if we want to keep God in line with His promises, yet some of the greatest verses in the Bible that lead us right in His arms of love, we are not finding delight in them. Like Amos 3:3 “Do two walk together, unless they have agreed to meet?” Another verse is: James 4:8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  (3 different colors 3 main themes)

I have hundreds of those verses that bring delight to my soul. When you think of James 4:8 this is a verse that evoke pain beyond measure. The only way we would know that is if we go with Him in a practical way living out the last part of this verse which is: “Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” Incidentally, He showed me this verse is closely related to Hebrews 10:22-23 in the way He works them out in our lives.  He breaks us until we feel shattered in millions of pieces. He also humbles us in order to prepare our hearts for the intimate and holy life He is about to share with us as He draws near. So this little in James 4:8 has three components, the first one is that we draw near. The second one is that He comes closer too, but this closeness before we can enjoy it and find the delight that He brings to the soul we ought to let Him apply the third part of the verse which is: Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. This is where your will is important because you have a role to play too in this deal. We are given a command to draw near, but it is His job to cleanse our hands and purify our hearts. Then, once He starts the process of purifying us to prepare us to receive His holiness, we ought to remain put and let Him do the work. Through this work of cleansing our hands and hearts, we find that our double mindedness is no longer something we delight in anymore. Only then you are ready inwardly to share in His holiness.

The same principle applies to the verse Amos 3:3. How can you walk with God with a heart plagued with double mindedness? How can you walk with God with a heart filled with hypocrisy? A spirit of rebellion?  The verse itself tells you that there has to be an agreement. This agreement involved us agreeing with Him. Not us forcing our idea of salvation on Him. The similarity of our inclinations, what brings joy to our walk, the intimacy we share, the love, our habits, what brings pleasure to each other, etc. are things that we have to agree on and find delight in them as we share this love and intimate walk together.

Often times I read from the puritan writings that if we do not learn to share these things with God right now, if we cannot find delight in Him right here and right now, then, for those Christians, heaven would be hell and I have to agree with them. Well, if you do not delight in Him now, what makes you think this is going to happen to you after you are dead?

Yes, the blood of Jesus Christ washes us from all filth, but if it is true and this happened to you, why is it you are still living as if salvation has not touched you? Why living in your self-righteousness? Why the presumptuous faith that somehow cannot be changed into real faith? Why are you full of hypocrisy? Lust, sin, wickedness, harden heart etc? Where is the work of Salvation within? Where is the Cross of Christ? I am getting so excited with this post that I will make one more point and try very hard to stop myself.

In the book of Hebrews we have a passage that causes great controversy in 6:4. There are in reality four groups: one believes this passage does not relate to Christian because we have been sealed with the Spirit and God cannot lie so eternal security is ours while we live life, our way. Another group feels that this is just a hypothetical example and has nothing to do with those who confess their belief in Christ. The third group goes wild in explaining this verse in conjunction with their idea of salvation (this one is a gut’ wrenching) because you can see you are dealing with people who just want what God has to offer and they want Him to leave them alone. The fourth group believes like John Calvin, that this verse, Hebrews 6:4 is pertaining to those who never fully became Christian.

Here is how John Calvin explains those falling away: “experience shows that the reprobate are sometimes affected in a way so similar to the elect, that even in their own judgment there is no difference between them. Hence it is not strange, that by the Apostle a taste of heavenly gifts, and by Christ himself a temporary faith, is ascribed to them. Not that they truly perceive the power of spiritual grace and the sure light of faith…”

Needless to say that I am with Calvin here, not that this mean I am a Calvinist because my true religion is the Holy Spirit. However, today’s church more than ever is filled to capacity with the kind of Christians that are in the category of those referred to by the writer of Hebrews as those “falling away.” Sadly, these people are found from the pulpits to the pews and it goes deeper than that, because we find them right in the leadership of the Church as Church elders.  

Faith

Arthur W. Pink (1886-1952)

"But without faith it is impossible to please Him" (Heb. 11:6); "But the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it" (Heb. 4:2). The linking together of these verses shows us the worthlessness of all religious activities where faith is lacking. The outward exercise may be performed diligently and correctly, but unless faith is in operation, God is not honored and the soul is not profited. Faith draws out the heart unto God, and faith it is which receives from God—not a mere intellectual assent to what is revealed in Holy Writ, but a supernatural principle of grace which lives upon the God of Scripture. This the natural man, no matter how religious or orthodox he is, has not; and no labors of his, no act of his will, can acquire it.

Faith is the sovereign gift of God. Faith must be operative in all the exercises of the Christian if God is to be glorified and he is to be edified.

First, in the reading of the Word: "But these are written that you might believe" (John 20:31).

Second, in listening to the preaching of God's servants: "The hearing of faith" (Gal. 3:2).

Third, in praying: "Let him ask in faith, without wavering" (James 1:6).

Fourth, in our daily life: "For we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Cor. 5:7); "the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God" (Gal. 2:20).

Fifth, in our exit from this world: "These all died in faith" (Heb. 11:13).

What the breath is to the body, faith is to the soul; for one who is destitute of faith to seek to perform spiritual actions is like putting a spring within a wooden dummy and making it go through mechanical motions.

Now an unregenerate professor may read the Scriptures and yet have no spiritual faith. Just as the devout Hindu peruses the Upanishads, and the Mohammedan his Koran, so many in "Christian" countries take up the study of the Bible, and yet have no more of the life of God in their souls than have their heathen brethren. Thousands in this land read the Bible, believe in its Divine authorship, and become more or less familiar with its contents. A mere professor may read several chapters every day, and yet never appropriate a single verse. But faith applies God's Word: it applies His fearful threats and trembles before them; it applies His solemn warnings, and seeks to heed them; it applies His precepts, and cries unto Him for grace to walk in them.

It is the same in listening to the Word preached. A carnal professor will boast of having attended this conference and that, of having heard this famous teacher and that renowned preacher, and be no better off in his soul than if he had never heard any of them. He may listen to two sermons every Sunday, and fifty years hence be as dead spiritually as he is today. But the regenerated soul appropriates the message and measures himself by what he hears. He is often convicted of his sins and made to mourn over them. He tests himself by God's standard, and feels that he comes so far short of what he ought to be, that he sincerely doubts the honesty of his own profession. The Word pierces him, like a two-edged sword, and causes him to cry "O wretched man that I am."

So in prayer. The mere professor often makes the humble Christian feel ashamed of himself. The carnal religionist who has "the gift of the gab" is never at a loss for words: sentences flow from his lips as readily as do the waters of a babbling brook; verses of Scripture seem to run through his mind as freely as flour passes through a sieve. Whereas the poor burdened child of God is often unable to do any more than cry "God be merciful to me a sinner." Ah, my friends, we need to distinguish sharply between a natural aptitude for "making" nice "prayers" and the spirit of true supplication: the one consists merely of words, the other of "groanings which cannot be uttered"; the one is acquired by religious education, the other is wrought in the soul by the Holy Spirit.

Thus it is too in conversing about the things of God. The frothy professor can talk glibly and often orthodoxly of "doctrines," yes, and of worldly things, too: according to his mood, or according to his audience, so is his theme. But the child of God, while being swift to hear that which is unto edification, is "slow to speak." Ah, my reader, beware of talkative people; a drum makes a lot of noise, but it is hollow inside! "Most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness; but a faithful man who can find?" (Proverbs 20:6). When a saint of God does open his lips about spiritual matters, it is to tell of what the Lord, in His infinite mercy, has done for him; but the carnal religionist is anxious for others to know what he is "doing for the Lord."

The difference is just as real between the genuine Christian and the nominal Christian in connection with their daily lives: while the latter may appear outwardly righteous, yet within they are "full of hypocrisy, and iniquity" (Matt. 23:28). They will put on the skin of a real sheep, but in reality they are "wolves in sheep's' clothing." But God's children have the nature of sheep, and learn of Him who is "meek and lowly in heart," and, as the elect of God, they put on "mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering" (Col. 3:12). They are in private what they appear in public. They worship God in spirit and in truth, and have been made to know wisdom in the hidden parts of the heart.

So it is on their passing out of this world. An empty professor may die as easily and as quietly as he lived—deserted by the Holy Spirit, undisturbed by the Devil; as the Psalmist says, "There are no bands in their death" (73:4). But this is very different from the end of one whose deeply-plowed and consciously-defiled conscience has been "sprinkled" with the precious blood of Christ: "Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace" (Psalm 37:37)—yes, a peace which "passes all understanding": having lived the life of the righteous, he dies "the death of the righteous" (Num. 23:10).

And what is it which distinguishes the one character from the other, wherein lies the difference between the genuine Christian and he who is one in name only? This: a God-given, Spirit-wrought faith in the heart. Not a mere head-knowledge and intellectual assent to the Truth, but a living, spiritual, vital principle in the heart—a faith which "purifies the heart" (Acts 15:9), which "works by love" (Gal. 5:6), which "overcomes the world" (1 John 5:4). Yes, a faith which is Divinely sustained amidst trials within and opposition without; a faith which exclaims "though He slays me, yet will I trust in Him" (Job 13:15).

True, this faith is not always in exercise, nor is it equally strong at all times. The favored possessor of it must be taught by painful experience that as he did not originate it neither can he command it; therefore does he turn unto its Author, and say, "Lord I believe, help my unbelief." And then it is that, when reading the Word he is enabled to lay hold of its precious promises; that when bowing before the Throne of Grace, he is enabled to cast his burden upon the Lord; that when he rises to go about his temporal duties, he is enabled to lean upon the everlasting arms; and that when he is called upon to pass through the valley of the shadow of death, he triumphantly cries, "I will fear no evil for You are with me." "Lord, increase our faith.