Faith!

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

Faith is so important to a Christian, more so than even most believe. Chapter 11 of Hebrews is called the “Faith Chapter” some call it the “heroes of faith”, but in reality, it is an example of real faith and how it works. God said, “faith is the substance of things hoped for”, but what does that even mean? First, you must define the word “substance” and it means - a setting under – Vines defines it this way, -it has the meaning of "confidence, assurance" the giving substance to – Think of faith as our underlaying foundation. The stranger the faith the stronger they believe God. These folks were not heroes at all, no believer is a hero, Christians are what God makes them by grace. Faith is to a Christian like a foundation is to a house: it gives confidence and assurance that he will stand. Weak faith is like having a foundation built on sand and when the storm of life comes their faith folds like a house on sand and gets washed away. Jesus did not build His church on a small pebble like Peter but built it on a massive bolder in Himself. Jesus is the only foundation that could make the church solid to withstand the storms. The folks mentioned in chapter 11 all had strong faith foundations. Our true faith is confident obedience to God’s Word despite circumstances and consequences. No matter what, their faith in God and God’s word was strong, their faith in God was their unlaying foundation to their accomplishments. The measure of our faith is strength in Him and His word, when the flood water in life come, do we stand strong. In the “dark ages” of history tens of millions of men, women, and children died because of their faith in God. When the storms of persecution came, they did not surrender, they did not lose faith, their house of faith stood strong as they were persecuted and died for their faith in God’s word. Faith is just like everything else, it is only as strong as God give it in grace. Those that have strong faith in the Lord are much blessed of God. Because faith is only as strong as the One giving it. God said, “For by it the elders obtained a good report.” V. 2 by their strong faith, and the stronger and more blessed they were the better report they had from God. God said “Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.” Hebrews 10:38 This is why some come and stay a while and retreated, because their faith is not their strong foundation. The words “draw back” means – to cower or to withdraw or apostasy – God has no pleasure in them, because their faith collapsed, or their house built on sand fell. Faith enables Christians to be great Christians in the Lord and His word, pleasing God all the way through life. God also said, “But without faith it is impossible to please him…” every time a Christians faith folds, every time the floods come, and their house collapses God is not pleased. If a Christian is not standing in strong support of God’s word, no matter what, they fail. If we lose sight of Him and His True Being, or if we lose faith in His blessed Word of Truth, if we fail in faith, we fail God. “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.” V. 7 Noah never stop building the Ark no matter what, even if he did not clearly understand what a flood was or why he was building the Ark people laughed, God spoke, and he obeyed! The best way to grow in faith is to walk with the faithful, read His word and understand the commandments and to do as God wants. If you do, God will always be pleased with your faith. “And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:” How is your report?

Saints of God and Sin.

“We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.” 1 John 5:18

When God saves a sinner, they are “translated” from Satan’s power to the Power of Jesus Christ. This is called being birthed or being born of God. A soul is changed from being enslaved and controlled by sin to being controlled by the Holy Spirit of God. As children of God, we now belong to the King of kings and the Lord of lords. We are no longer wonders in a lost and dying world, but children of God. We belong to God, He wanted us before the world was ever created, long before anything was created, way back in eternity past when only God existed, He wanted us. Not to be just created beings, but to be His children, to be like unto His True Son Jesus Who is the Christ. When God says we are “born of God” the word “born” means - to procreate – it also means we are “begotten” of God. While a sinner might have been born of a woman, and have an earthly father, those of us who have been saved have been re-born or experienced a second birth. We have been rebirthed by God to be His children. This is what Jesus was explaining to Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews in John 3 when Jesus told him, “…Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” The words “born again” means being born a second time but this time from above. Most people hate this terminology because it is “exclusive” but if it were not for the re-birthing of God, all would be excluded from salvation. The re-birthing is by God’s power, we have nothing to do with it except being blessed by it.

We, as children of God are made holy by the earthly works and blood of Jesus Christ our Saviour. “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;” Hebrews 1:3 Jesus has “purged our sins” meaning He, thru His blood has purified all our sins. This is the reason for the re-birthing, for God to make us as though we have never been sinners. To make us holy as Jesus is Holy, as the Father is Holy, we as children can also be holy. We could never be holy in our natural state because we were born sinners. What a blessing to everyone that God has re-birthed by the power of the Holy Spirt and through His Son Jesus Christ. As children God expects things of us, like recognizing Him as our Father, us wanting to be like Him, and us following His authority and power. If we are “begotten of God” then as children, we are to keep ourselves from sin. This is impossible without the power of God because Satan tempts us, and we simply cannot overpower Satan’s temptations. However, with that said it is our responsibility to our Father because we Reverence Him not to fall into temptation. While our power is limited, we are to resist the devil and his sly temptations. This is not an option; it is a command from our Father. Sometimes some of God’s children treat the commandments of God like options, but commandments are certainly not options. Your Heavenly Father is nothing like your earthly father, your Heavenly Father does not “overlook” your disobedience. He forgives them through the blood of Jesus, but He is never “ok” with disobedience. Sin is the breaking of God’s law, any of God’s commandments broken is sin. God is gracious in that He has forgiven our sins thru the blood sacrifice of Jesus, but please do not mistake that as justification for sinning. God said, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.” Revelation 3:19 It is never good to have God our Father chastening us! While we may argue that without the power of God, we cannot resist the temptations and power of Satan, us folding and surrendering is our fault. God said, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7 Again this is not by our power, but we must resist Satan with all the power we do have, and God will give us power to succeed. How do we do this, by drawing closer to God. “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” James 4:8 Beloved, sin is not “ok” with the saints of God, if you do not resist Satan you will fall into temptation and God will chasten you.

Walking worthy of the Lord.

“So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Proverbs 3:4 - 6

What a blessing in a believer’s life, to “find favour and good understanding in the sight of God”. God gives us grace by His measure of grace, our walk-in life is ordained by God as He ordained for us before the world began. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10 But even though God controls our walk-in life and accomplishments, we need to remember to walk strong for the Lord. Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica, “Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power: That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Thessalonians 1:11 -12 Every believer no matter what God has called you to do, ought to do it good enough to find favor in God’s sight by walking worthy of God’s calling. Any Believer that is not walking to please God in every area of their life are not walking worthy of their calling or walking to find favor in God’s sight. The Lord went on to say, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart” We are to trust the Lord with everything we have within us, all faith should be on the Lord. If you look back in the scriptures, you will find those that God blessed the most walked worthy of their calling no matter what that calling was. Moses, look how God used him and blessed him. How about Noah, God blessed him and his family because of his faithfulness. God blesses Enoch by allowing him to escape death, and God said of him “…for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” Hebrews 11:5 Look at Abraham God said of him, “…Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” Not only because Abraham walked worthy of his calling, but he also trusted God with all his heart. We see many of people both men and women that walked worthy of their calling but also showed great faith in God. There is only one way to walk worthy of our calling and that is to trust the Lord with all our hearts. However, this can only be accomplished by “…lean not unto thine own understanding” Our understanding is not God’s understanding, God is always right, and people are always wrong. Our own hearts will always mislead us, our understanding, knowledge, and wisdom must come from God.  God said, “So I gave them up unto their own hearts' lust: and they walked in their own counsels.” Psalms 81:12 but why did God give them up, “But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.” Verse 11. If Christians are not going to walk and be guided by God’s voice (which is His word) then they are going to follow their own understanding. We must realize that the only good in us is what God has graciously put in us. Total depravity means that there is no good in us, we cannot walk own our own understanding. Therefore, so many believers have walked away from the Lord because they follow their own foolish hearts. It is never wise for a believer to think for themselves too much, we will find ourselves falling away from the Lord. The Lord also said “…In all thy ways acknowledge him…” Notice the Lord did not say in some ways but in all our ways “acknowledge him…” because He is directing our path in everything. If we are doing something, if we are accomplishing something, then God is not acknowledged. “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;” Colossians 3:23 That is, in your heart do as the Lord directs you and you will always, please the Lord. It is because of this that the Lord is pleased and because of this that the Lord will bless you. You will find all the people in the scriptures that the Lord talked positive about followed the Lord and not their own understanding. And if we do then God promised, “…he shall direct thy paths.” What a blessing.   

God is our Creator.

Psalms 69:5 “O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee.”

As created creatures we are at the mercy of our Creator. The thing created can never make demands of the one creating it. God asked this question, “Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” Romans 9:21 Does the vessel maker do as He pleases with the clay?  Then, God went on to ask another question, “And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?”  Romans 9:23 – 24 Then the Lord compared this vessel making to people, therefore, it must be concluded that the “Vessels” that the Lord was talking about were people because He said Jews and Gentiles meaning they were the people in this world. God was asking doesn’t He as Creator have the right to make His created vessels as He chooses? He can make one unto honor and another unto dishonor if He chooses, as He chooses. God can create one vessel to be Abraham and another to be Satan if He chooses. People, and sometimes Christians believe that God somehow owes them something, some believe God should make them happy in life and let no bad come to them. So, let me ask a question, what exactly does God owe us? If God was to give people what they deserve they would all have been created vessels of dishonor, because we were all born in dishonor. The Psalmist wrote, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” Psalms 51:5 This is true of every single soul ever born apart from Jesus the Son of God. When God said He created some vessels of honor He meant He would make them vessels of honor by His mercy and grace. Please understand, God created two souls, Adam and Eve, every other soul was born in sin. God created Adam and Eve as “upright” souls, they became sinful when they disobeyed God. There is no question that God hates sin, but God also hates the workers of sin or sinners. “The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.” Psalms 5:5 Therefore, let us understand that God is not obligated to love no one, He did not have to create any vessels of honor at all. Anything God does for mankind is strictly by mercy and grace. So, those vessels that God elected to make vessels of honor are made or created by God’s gracious hands, so to speak. Listen to God when not only did He save us by grace and not of works, but He also said, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10 This is His creating us His vessels of honor. While we were born sinners, God by His “workmanship, creation” made us what He wanted us to be in life before the creation of the world. Therefore, the Apostle Paul wrote these words, “by the grace of God I am what I am” 1 Cor. 15:10 We must understand that everything God gives is a gift of grace, not a merit payment. We are sinners, even if God makes us vessels of honor, we are still sinners. We must be honest with God and ask His forgiveness of our sins because He knows them. He knows our foolishness, and our sins are open to Him, but through grace He forgives our sins and our foolishness. God doesn’t have to forgive us; He chooses too because He is a merciful and gracious Creator. The Psalmist pleaded with the Lord in, Psalms 51:9 - 12 "Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit." He knows God did not owe him anything, he was asking God for grace. God knows our foolishness; He sees everything and knows even our thoughts. But He chooses to forgive us. So, no matter where the Lord leads us it is what the Potter has ordained for us, let us all walk in that ordained path thanking God, He chose it for us, no matter what road the path is. God knows what our needs are, and He will supply those needs, making demands of God will only get you a no answer for your requested demands. Let us remember in hard and needful times as the Psalmist did, “Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me. Psalms 116:5 – 6

Salvation by works voids God.

Romans 4:14 “For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:”

This has been an ugly debate since time has been, the Jews were convinced that their works would save them. The debate continued through the bible days, even when Jesus was on earth He was rejected as the Redeemer of mankind. And today the debate rages on, associations that call themselves “churches” preach and teach that works is a part of salvation. Works for salvation is Satan’s lie, Satan wants this debate to continue because it is a challenge to true salvation in Jesus Christ. Works for salvation renders Jesus Christ useless in salvation, works make’s salvation through the person not through Jesus. Faith is in Jesus Christ as Saviour; faith renders work’s useless because all the work for salvation was done in Jesus Christ. God has made it crystal clear in the scriptures that salvation is not of both, works and faith. “And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.” Romans 11:6 If salvation is of faith, then it’s of grace and if it’s of works then it is not of faith or grace. The two do not mix because our faith is in Jesus Christ as our Saviour, He cannot be our Saviour if we involve works in salvation. Works for salvation renders the entire Trinity useless in salvation. God is the giver and supplier of our salvation, faith is our believing and trusting God to save us, the Father gave grace, the Son paid the price and bought us, and the Holy Spirit delivers the quickening and faith to believe. “But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” Titus 3:4 - 7 If you can read that passage of scripture and still believe in works for salvation you are as spiritually dead as a corpse in a grave and so blinded by Satan you cannot see. Works is a slap at God, denying Him the ability to save sinners, it’s a slap at Jesus, making His earthly works, His death, and His blood useless, and it is a slap at the Holy Spirit as being useless in His works to save a sinner. Works for salvation is taking the power to save from God and putting it into the hands of sinful people. I would rather to have faith in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit rather in my sinful self. I have one question for people who believe in works for salvation, what makes you just and righteous, what keeps you pure in your sinful living, and how many times have you been saved? See people who believe in works believe themselves to be perfect, part of their satanic blinding is believing that they are more righteous than another sinner. They believe that they are above sin, because according to their own teachings a person that “falls from grace” needs to be re-saved but they do not really believe that because they never fall from their salvation. They believe their living good enough to remain saved, in the end they will find themselves in Hell. “For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.” Galatians 5:3 - 6

God will never forsake His Children.

“For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name's sake: because it hath pleased the LORD to make you his people. Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way: Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you.” 1 Samuel 12:22 – 24

What a beautiful truth, God will never forsake His people which are His children. While the world wants to believe that Eternal security does not exist God has promised to never forsake His children. “…I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Hebrews 13:5c How could He ever forsake His children? We are God’s children by God’s own work and power, we are God’s adopted children, and He tells us what this means “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ…” Romans 8:17a This means as God’s children we are “a co-heir” with His own Son Jesus. We did not become joint-heirs on our own, God made us His own when He Elected us before the world began to be part of His own Family as children. Samuel wrote these words, “For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name's sake…” What does “for his great name's sake” mean, God will not forsake us because it would be forsaking His own honor. We did not choose God, we did not just come to Christ for salvation, we did not make ourselves God’s children, God made us His children. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:” John 1:12 When we became God’s children by adoption, we became part of God. We are as much God’s children as Jesus is, that’s why God said, “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ…” A child can forsake their Heavenly Father, but their Heavenly Father can never forsake His children, because He is God, God cannot lie, and He promised He would never leave nor forsake us. Forsaking His children would be like forsaking Jesus His own Son.

As children of the King, we must have standards in our life, “God forbid that I should sin against the LORD” It is the duty of each child NOT TO SIN AGAINST THEIR HEAVENLY Father! However, sometimes we do, we all do, some more than others, but we ought not. But look what sin he was talking about, “God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you” He said it is a sin not to pray for each other, Jesus said, “I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.” John 17:9 Even if a Christian sins, falls away into sin, or doesn’t believe the truth as you do, it is our duty to pray for them. We are God’s children and God will never forsake us, nor will He ever leave us, and neither should we forsake one another.

“Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart:” Believing the Truth of God’s word is not optional, it is a command and if we fail, we sin and if we sin, we ought to fear God. We are to search for the Truth of the bible, never denying the truth, even if we do not totally agree with it, it is not optional. We are God’s children and God has made us His children therefore we are in debt to God to be good children. “for consider how great things he hath done for you.” Think about what God has done for you and me, we are children of the King because the King has made us His children, be ye thankful. "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." Colossians 3:12 - 16

Who Gave Himself…

Titus 2:13 - 14 “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; (14) Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”

God’s Love, what a blessing to everyone who has or will be saved. Because of Love, look what God did, He elected us to be redeemed, He adopted us to be His children, He sent His very own Son to be the Redeemer, and through His Son, He purified us. God has “cleansed” us through the blood of the Lamb. 1 Peter 1:18 - 20 “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; (19) But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: (20) Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,” Then our adoption, “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: (5) Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,” Ephesians 1:4 – 5 Making us heirs of God, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: (17) And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” Romans 8:16 – 17. This is our blessed hope beloved, this is what every believer should be looking for, “…the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ”. Because we will forever be with our Lord and Saviour Jesus. What a day that will be when all of God’s chosen are at home together. God said, “…purify unto himself a peculiar people…” To be purified means we are sanctified or made holy through the blood of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Romans 8:29 says we are “…conformed to the image of his Son…” which means we are jointly formed or fashioned like unto His own Son. Now, if that thought does not excite you then you’re not saved! God, with His mercy and grace has elected to redeem a remnant of souls and to form them to be fashioned like His own Son Jesus and what it will be to be like His Son some glorious day! Since God has purified us, we ought to walk with God, walk in the Holy Spirit which is to walk in His word. While we cannot purify ourselves, we are to purify ourselves as we can, by living for the Lord, using the grace of God to live for the Lord and steadily look for Jesus. “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” 2 Corinthians 7:1 This means to live like Christians and to walk like God’s Children. People that are not living for the Lord are missing the blessing of looking for Jesus. Christian, we have been purified by God through the blood of Jesus, let us live like it! “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.” Proverbs 8:13 John Gill said it like this, “All evil in general, evil thoughts, evil words, evil actions, evil company, evil worship, and evil doctrines; and by "the fear of the Lord", which shows itself in an hatred of evil, because of the loathsome nature of it, and being contrary to God and his will…” Evil in any form is of Satan and not of God. The Psalmist wrote, “Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked. Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart. Rejoice in the LORD, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.” Psalms 97:10 – 12 God sent His Son in love, He died in love, we were saved because of love, made righteous because of love, no child of God should have evil in their heart, or anything in their hearts that makes them contrary to what God has made us. Jesus made us redeemed, purified, sanctified, because God made us a “peculiar people” and because of that we ought to be “…zealous of good works.” and “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;”

Purchase and Secure the Truth.

“Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.” Proverbs 23:23

God is Truth, Jesus is Truth, to properly worship them can only be done in truth. “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” John 4:24 God does not accept worship in any other form than Truth, God does not accept anything that isn’t done in Truth. The truth of the bible is a revelation from God the Spirit or the Holy Spirit, no one just learns the truth. “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” John 14:26 So we must all praise God that He has allowed us to understand the truth we do understand. As Christians we must search the scriptures daily to seek more truth, and if we fail, we will not be blessed with more truth. People that fail to attend church is also failing in their feeding of God’s sheep. Jesus created the church as an institution of biblical learning, and a place of proper worship. Jesus told His disciples just before His crucifixion these words, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.” John 16:13 - 14 The truth is not what you believe truth is, it is what God teaches you it is. No one believes the entire truth, that is why we never stop searching, studding, and learning with much prayer.

What does the Lord mean when He says, “Buy the truth”, He means to purchase it at any cost. He doesn’t mean with money because money buys you nothing with God. He means to acquire it at any cost and pay any price to get it. But if you can’t but it with money then how can buy it? You buy with dedication, hard work, much prayer, and attending church. God said, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15 The word “study” means - to make effort, be prompt or earnest - The thought is this the workman needs to be diligent in his labors of their study so that they will not be ashamed when his work is inspected by the Lord. Biblical lazy people, people with not enough time to study and attend church is not being diligent in his labors of study. They will lack the truth and be biblically ignorant. Then God says once you learn the Truth, “and sell it not” which means never surrender it. We must cleave to it and guard it, even at the risk of thy life, also at any cost. A biblical education in Truth is as glorious as our salvation because both were given to us by God through the power of the Holy Spirit. The difference is we can lose one but not the other. There are so many ways a believer can surrender their gift of truth. One way is to stop going to church, another way is to stop giving time to studding, another way is to listen to false teachers. I have seen so many Christians lose their belief in the truth simply by listening to false teachers. It has been said, “if you play with fire one day you will bet burnt” and it is so true. God warned us, “Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.” 2 John 1:8 Adam Clark said, “Be on your guard against these seducers; watch, pray, love God and each other, and walk in newness of life.” False teachers are everywhere, and Satan is using them to mislead you into false doctrine. If you are not guarding yourself against them, they will take your truth, you will sell it for their lies. Listen to God, “If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.” 2 John 1:10 – 11 You will sell the Truth for the lies of Satan and lose the blessed gift of God of believing and walking in Truth. Folks, I have seen it in Christians and Pastors alike, do not believe Satan, you do not owe it to hear what they have to say. You are not to be open minded, and if they teach a little truth today, tomorrow will be full of lies. Remember this, Satan was very subtle with Eve, very sly, He know how to get you, so walk very careful and never sell the truth.  

God is a Spirit; He is not a man.

John 4:24 “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

 God is not a man, Jesus Christ His Son was a man, but He was also God Incarnate. God is a Spirit and in that Spirit are three, Father, Son, and Spirit. These three are not separate, they are not different, They are one God. With God being a Spirit, it means that God is without a body. Good is invisible, in every place at one time, forever Pure and Holy. God is everything, He is everywhere, He knows every detail of everything, He never errors, He never sins, He is never wrong, and He needs nothing. “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” Numbers 23:19 Just as God does not lie, He does not change, “For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” Malachi 3:6 God who cannot lie, also is One who cannot change because He is perfect, He is complete in every point of His existence. And as His Son Jesus is also God, He will never change either. “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” Hebrews 13:8 “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:” Colossians 1:15 Jesus is a separate being from the Godhead, Jesus has a body just as we do, Jesus lived and grew, slept, eat, cried, suffered pain, and even died as we do. But Jesus was different, He is God’s own Son, He sits on God’s right hand, and He now has a name above all names, and all authority is in His hands. The only way a sinner could be redeemed and justified eternally is if God sent His own to die for the unjust. “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:” 1 Peter 3:18 Jesus Christ died on that cross, the Son of man, I cannot believe it is proper to say God died on that cross because God cannot die, not even one part of the Godhead. Look at John 13:31 - 32 “Therefore, when he was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him. (32) If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him.” Since Jesus is glorified then God is glorified in Him, it is not the Father was glorified but the Trinity was glorified through the works of the Son of Man and in what He do. I do not pretend to have all the answers, but this is known, God cannot die! Since God is a Spirit He must be worshipped as a Spirit and not as a man. It is wrong when people treat God as less than He is. God said, “For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts.” Malachi 1:11 God must be worshipped, Christians and churches a like are required to “Reverence” God which means we are supposed to fear His name, fear His eyes continually on us, and worship Him every moment and in everything. God did not save us to be our servant, friend, or buddy, He saved up to be His servant and for us to glorify not only our Saviour but also Him.  

Why does God love us?

“We love him, because he first loved us.”1 John 4:19

I have asked myself this question countless times, why does God love me? If you have never asked yourself that question, you ought too. David wrote in Psalms 5:4 - 5 “For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee. (5) The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.” The word “hatest” means - to hate, personally – people that are sinners. But weren’t we all sinners at one time? We were all born sinners, we were all born at enmity with God, which means we hated God. “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. (8) So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Romans 8:7 – 8.  So, why did God love me, that is the question? The point we must see in 1 John 4:19 is that God loved us first, when did God love those who are going to be called saints? God loved us before the foundation of the world before sin was in existence. Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:4 “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:” Before God laid the foundation of the world God loved us and chose us in Him, IN LOVE. God also chose us, before the foundation of the world that we, “should be holy and without blame before him”. This is what we as Christians must see, God loved us before the foundation of the world because He chose too. Let’s look at it this way, before God created one single thing, back in eternity past when only God existed, before Satan was created and fell, before Adam and Eve sinned, long before evil and sin came into existence, God loved a remnant of souls. Also, before that creation God had already made us a Redeemer in His own Son Jesus Christ, all this was before evil was created and sin existed. Read this, “But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: (20) Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, (21)  Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.” 1 Peter 1:19  Listen to Solomon in Proverbs 8:22 - 23 “The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. (23) I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.” Why God loved us we cannot answer that question except, He chose too. We must understand that God is Omniscient, and God never changes, never ever changes. Therefore, what God was before creation He is today, what God ordained or decreed before the foundation of the world He is today. So, we must understand that God never “come to love us” He has eternally loved us. While we will never understand this, we must accept it because it is fact. Let’s ask ourselves this question, when did God actually elect us to be His children? If God never changes, if nothing is added to Him nor anything taken away from Him, then when exactly where we elected? We who are the elect of God were never hated by God because before we were born sinners God loved us. We love God because He loved us in eternity past before sin. Our love to God was after His love was manifested to us in salvation. 1 John 4:9 “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.” God sending His Son to redeem us was the manifestation to us of God’s love. We, the elect of God was given to His Son before the foundation of the world, and Jesus Christ redeemed us all at the cross. This was all ordained before evil or sin came into existence. The elect of God was never like the non-elect because our redemption was assured in Jesus Christ before the world was ever created. Read this very carefully, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.” Romans 5:8 - 11

Three tenses of our salvation.

“Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. (11) And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.” Romans 13:10 - 11

Did you know that salvation is a three tenses process? Past, present, and future, just as a person is tri-being, body, soul, and spirit, just as God is a trinity Father, Son, and Spirit. Salvation does not end when you believe, it ends when Jesus returns to rapture and resurrect His people from the earth. The dead in Christ will have their bodies raised and they will receive new glorified bodies and those who are alive will have been raptured from the earth and their bodies will be changed. “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:51 - 52 Sin will no longer be a part of our life, our souls have been redeemed, our spirits have been quickened, and last our bodies will be redeemed. So, how is our salvation three tenses you might ask, past tense is our justification, when the guilt and penalty of sin was removed from the believing sinner. Present tense is our sanctification, which is the life we live for the Lord Jesus Christ according to the direction and power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gradually conforms us to the image of our Lord by causing us to walk holy on this earth. Future tense is our glorification, the changing of our bodies at the Rapture into perfect bodies, completing our process of salvation. This is what Paul was saying when he said, “…for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.” There will be a time when sin will not be a part of the believer’s life, soul, spirit, or body because all will be quickened, redeemed, and glorified when we are with the Lord. For us who are alive, we are in our present tense which is our sanctification stage. It is unfortunate that some believers sleep in this stage, they are not fulfilling the commandments of the Lord. They walk according to the course of this world and not according to the course of God’s word. They have no gratitude toward God who saved their unworthy souls by grace, by sacrificing His own Son at the wicked hands of Satan and evil people to save our souls. God put all our sins on Him who knew no sin to bring us all to the point of sanctification our present tense of salvation. They refuse to join and/or attend church as though church is unimportant to them. They refuse to support the local church as though its survival is unimportant to them. They refuse to walk in the word because they do not attend church to learn God’s word at feeding time. They refuse to let their spiritual light shine in this dark world of sin, in fact some lights are so dim it can be hardly seen at all. Some believers lack the most important ingredient of sanctification which is love. Paul wrote “Love worketh no ill to his neighbour…” The word "love" here is agapaō, which is divine love produced by the Holy Spirit, remember the spiritual gifts given to us at salvation. Gal. 5:22 God gave us love because love is required to serve God. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” 1 John 4:10 Everything starts with love and ends with love, God loved us so He elected us, adopted us, sent His Son to die for us, redeemed us, sanctified us, and will glorify us in the end. This is how important love is, and just as some believers have a dim light of sanctification in their daily life, some have a dim light of love about them. Think about this, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.” 1 John 4:11 God never, does not show His love toward a believer!

You must be born again.

“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3

Salvation is probably the most debated subject in the world, even among those who call themselves “Christians” there is much debate. In the end it will be the one single issue that will deliver you the most glory it your right or punishment if you’re wrong. Those that are wrong will without question will spend eternity in the lake of fire. Sin has brought much bad to man, when Adam sinned God counted all mankind sinners, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” Romans 5:12 This means that we are all sinners in Adam, we are not condemned for our own sins, we were born sinners, we are born with dead spirits, we were born condemned. “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:18 This is what God was talking about in Romans 5:19 “For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” Notice in verse 12 God used the word (all) which includes everyone born on this earth. Here in verse 19 God uses the word (many) not once but twice, but why, please remember this, God does not play with words, when God uses a word, it has a direct meaning. In verse 12 God is referring to every soul born, in verse 19 God breaks these lost souls into two groups, the vessels of honor and the vessels fitted for destruction. When God says “For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners…” These must be the one’s condemned to eternal hell because of Adams Sin and will never be redeemed. The second group, “…so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” These must be the one’s that will be redeemed by the Lamb of God, who are made righteous in Jesus Christ by being born again. For that “many” that were “…so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” Paul wrote in verse 21 “That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” The words, “sin hath reigned unto death” means sin has enslaved them unto death with no escape on their own. However, for the second many, “…grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” These group will be born again and be redeemed by the blood by the Lamb by grace reigning in them. Not every living soul will be saved, God never gave every living soul His gift of “salvation grace” only this second “many” in verse 19 will ever be saved.

Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born again, these words means that one must be born from above, and anew. The old man is condemned by the sin of Adam, their spirit is born dead and unable to respond to God’s word. They cannot hear it, they cannot believe it, they cannot receive it because they are dead. There must be a quickening first, that is the spirit in a person must be made alive, life comes from God only. Read this very slowly and powerfully to yourself, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: (13) Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” John 1:12 – 13 We must be born of God, by God, and through Jesus Christ and by grace. Only a remnant will, all other are condemned to eternal hell. If you have not been born from above, by the power of the Holy Spirit, through the blood of Jesus, then you have not been born from above! There is no other way, if one does not go through Jesus Christ then they will never see nor enter the Kingdom of God.  

 

God Loves You Believer!

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

If you’re a Christian always remember these words “God loves you” He always has and He always will, no matter what happens in your life, God loves you. Christians need to be reminded that God’s love is not shown in only good things in our life, but in our salvation, in His mercy, and in His grace that He gives to us every day. God loved us so much that He sent His very own Beloved Son to redeem us in His death, burial, and resurrection, and by the shedding of His glorious blood. Christian, whatever happens in your life on this earth does not add to or subtract God’s love to us. Therefore, we can not count God’s blessings by money, houses, cars, worldly possessions, or your status on this earth. Our blessing in life is what we do to bring glory to God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. There are a lot of biblically unintelligent people who try to tell you to measure blessings on what you good have in this life. God paints us a much different image in the scriptures, God tells us that we shall have trials, tribulations, and even persecutions. God tells us that we will suffer for His sake because our Saviour suffered for us. No, our blessing from God is not our possessions but rather our walk on this earth for His glory. God told us, “that all things work together for good to them that love God,” When Jesus saved Saul of Tarsus Jesus said, “But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: (16) For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.” Acts 9:15 – 16 The Apostle Paul did suffer, while many of God’s blessing were with Him in what he accomplished he suffered much for the Lord, even being jailed three times. Almost all the Apostles suffered martyrdom when they died. Tens of millions of God’s children suffered martyrdom when they were murdered in the so called “dark ages” and millions more through out other parts of history. Even today countless Christians in this world live in or below poverty and still count themselves worthy to call God their Father and tell you how blessed they are. Our blessings as Christians are our walk in the Lord, it has nothing to do with our possessions in this life, but those we carry with us into heaven called crowns and rewards. Peter and the other Apostles were arrested and persecuted for preaching the gospel, but they said, “Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.” Acts 5:29 They did not mind the arrest, the persecution, they just wanted to obey God, no matter the cost, it was a blessing. “And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.” Acts 5:41 What is your blessing in life, a new home, a new car, more money, or serving the Lord even in persecution. Would it be a blessing to die a martyr’s death for the Lord? Would you still attend church if the government prohibited it, or would you just stop going. Folk’s, our blessing in life is our service to the Lord, anything you do in righteousness is a glory to Jesus our glorious Saviour. We must understand that God has predestinated our life, God is our Saviour in life, and God will bless us for our labor for His glory. Not necessarily with earthly possessions but with rewards that will last and eternity. What is your blessing, do you sacrifice for the Lord, do you attend church no matter what? “And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.” Acts 5:42 Nothing happens in a Believers life that God has not ordained for them, therefore if bad things happens in your life, count them blessings also and never forget that God is holding you up.   

Do you Worry? It is sinful!

Matthew 6:25 – 34

We might say that it is natural to worry, and it is, but it is still a lack of faith in the Lord. God said, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1 This is not a definition of faith, but a description of what faith does and how it works. The definition of the word faith is, persuasion, that is, credence; moral conviction, it is our conviction in God. Our faith is how strong we believe in God, how strong we trust God in our life, for our daily needs. Look what God said in the previous chapter. Hebrews 10:22 - 23 “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)” As Christians, our growing closer to trusting God in faith, is trusting Him even though we can not see the end result. The Lord said, “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering” We not only trust God for our daily needs but also our daily walk, our Christian walk, we should trust God in every single aspect of our life. Our faith defines our conviction in God, it is our personal gauge of how much we trust God. God said, “Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?” Matthew 6:27 The word “stature” is talking about your height or age as defined by most, but it does carry the definition of “maturity” which could tell us that our age in the Lord or maturity in the life. If God is as the bible explains, and if we trust God as the bible explains, then what part of our life can we change? If God is Omniscient, then there is noting that God does not know about your life. If God has ordered our life, and He has, then what part of our life should we not trust Him for. The greatest faith of a Christian is the one who trust God the most. God said, “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?”  Matthew 6:30 - 31 This does not mean that we get lazy and just trust God, God told us to work, He told us to live our life, but to trust Him for the maturity of your life. Listen to this example, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15 But the bible is a revolution of the Holy Spirit. However, God promised if you study He will increase our knowledge of the word of truth. However, if one fails to study your not going to increase your knowledge. But we still trust God to teach us and give us knowledge and understanding of His word. Faith, real faith is trusting God in all things. “God said, For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.” James 4:15 We are to trust God for tomorrow and every other day, if God feeds the birds, then God will most certainly feed and cloth us, His children. So, our gauge of our faith is how much do we trust God? God said, “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.” Matthew 6:33 - 34 What did God mean when He said, “and all these things shall be added unto you.” God said, you seek the things needed for God’s kingdom and you seek His righteousness, and your increase in life will be added as God gives it. Folks, worry is sin, it’s a lack of trust in God. Don’t worry about tomorrow, pray about tomorrow. If God supplies all of creation, He can and will supply our life needs. Our thoughts need to be on seeking God’s righteousness and not sinfully worrying about things we cannot change. “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. (6) So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” Hebrews 13:5 - 6 

Who is Jesus asking The Father to forgive?

Luke 23:34 “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.”

As I was doing some study on a sermon when I was pointed to this scripture and this quote shined like a bright light, “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do…” I remember reading years ago that Jesus prayed for forgiveness for those that crucified Him, but the question came to my mind, why? I understand that what these Jews and Roman soldiers did to Jesus was in ignorance. But every sin a lost person does is in ignorance almost. There are a lot of Christians that does things against God out of ignorance. It would be fine if I prayed this prayer for them, but Jesus, the Son of God? Jesus was/is the Christ and the Son of God, His Father before the foundation of the world had given to Him a fold or a remnant of human souls out of the world. The eternal covenant between the Father and His Beloved Son was that He was to be born the Son of man and give His life on that cross for their sins. Jesus said, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10 His focus as the Son of man was to redeem this remnant that His Father had chosen and gifted Him with before the foundation of the world. At no point in His human life was Jesus not God’s Son, not for one moment did Jesus make a mistake or do something that was contradictive to His being the second part of the Trinity. Jesus, both as the Son of God and the Son of man was always God’s Son and without error in His actions and thoughts. This question crossed my mind as I looked at this passage of scripture, why would Jesus pray for the lost that are not the elect? Why would Jesus ever pray for the non-elected for anything, wouldn’t that be a contradiction to His deity? It was Jesus, that before He was arrested that said these words, “I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.” John 17:9 God told the Prophet Jeremiah these words, “Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee.” Jeremiah 7:16 Why is it when these people are crucifying God’s Son called the Son of man did Jesus pray that the Father forgive them for their ignorance of crucifying Him? To what profit would that have been, I’m not Theologian by any stretch of the imagination but I see this prayer not for the ones crucifying Jesus. This is what I see, there is no need to pray for the salvation or the forgiveness of the non-elected, God’s not going to save them nor is God going to forgive their sins out of ignorance or otherwise. I can see no reason to ask God to forgive their sin, therefore there must be another answer why He prayed for His Father to forgive. I believe that for Jesus must have had us on His mind or at least some elect. Because For Jesus to ask the Father to forgive these hateful sinners who crucified the Christ, the very Messiah would be, I believe wrong. Again what Good would it do for Jesus to have asked the Father to forgive these hatful sinners of their sin for crucifying Him? I believe, as Jesus continued to pray in John 17, we read these words, “And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.” John 17:11 that we, the elected of the Father was this prayer for. Jesus must have had us on His mind as He was about to give-up the ghost because the whole crucifixion was about us. We were absolutely on His mind the whole time because it was for us, He died, not for the non-elect. All I can say is, Thank You Jesus for being my intercessor and mediator to our Father. God tells us as Christians to pray for those who persecute us or despitefully use us, because we do not know who the elect are. It is thought that some of these involved in the crucifixion was later saved, but I’m sure a small number. Maybe it was for them that Jesus prayed for, but I simply cannot see Jesus the very Christ, the Son of God praying for people who were involved in the crucifixion for no purpose. I have investigated many commentaries on this, and most either ignore it or skip it all together. One even said it was not in the original text. Really? This is my conclusion, either Jesus prayed for those elect that were involved in the crucifixion or He prayed for the elect sinners altogether. We do read in Acts 3:17 “And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers.” I cannot believe that Jesus prayed for the Father to forgive any non-elect especially the chief priest or Roman soldiers.