Keeping Faith!! 2007/2 01/14/07
Last week, I told you that we would continue with the lesson that we started, and we will, up to a point, though this lesson, even with some redundancy, will probably be shorter, it carries the message that God had laid on my heart, so this week, we will try and finish what was started then.
The message, ‘Crowning Faith’, had the title because of what Paul wrote to Timothy, just a short time before he was martyred, and I want to just repeat several verses as a beginning. Turn back to 2 Tim. 4:7-8;
“I have fought the good (worthy, honorable, and noble fight), I have finished the race, I have kept (firmly held) the faith.
[As to what remains] henceforth there is laid up for me the [victor’s] crown of righteousness [for being right with God and doing right], which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me and recompense me on that [great] day – and not to me only, but also to all those who have loved and yearned for and welcomed His appearing (His return).”
What I see here is that Paul, unlike Peter, and I am not throwing rocks at Peter, but there is a parallel here that we need to make a note of for just a moment. Paul had just written, in verse 6…well, lets just read that verse too.
“For I am already about to be sacrificed [my life is about to be poured out as a drink offering]; the time of my [spirit’s] release [from the body] is at hand and I will soon go free.”
The point here, is that Paul is in a far more critical place than Peter, and he too, could have denied Jesus, and saved his physical life, but then he would not have finished the race. Peter did finish the race, but only after he had repented of the denial. Now, that in mind, lets take a look at a commendation Jesus spoke to the church at Philadelphia: Revelation 3:8,10 & 11;
“I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.
Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast to what you have, that no one may take your crown.”
Note: There are two dispensational notes to be taken into consideration here. The church at Philadelphia represents the “true church” throughout all of church history, especially that part of the church characterized by revival just prior to the apostasy of the last days. This “true church” will be raptured before the Great Tribulation period. Christians do suffer and will continue to suffer persecution and tribulation in general (see John 16:33), but God’s ‘I will also keep you from the hour of trial’ is a clear, literal promise to believers for deliverance from the coming Great Tribulation. It does not indicate preservation in, but a complete exemption from, the Earth's final distresses.
I was interested in the correlation of Paul’s words concerning the crown laid up for him and the crown mentioned here. If it could not be taken, then why would Jesus put that in this text. Could it be, that Paul had persevered, finishing the race, and keeping the faith?, I think so, from what I read in the rest of the story. There is much being said, similar to what we are hearing here, about the times that are close to the coming of Jesus for the church today.
Most of the men who are anointed in the gift of prophesy, agree that the days ahead will be a time of testing and great trial and there will be some who may endure persecution, but it will also be a time of the revelation of God’s glory, that will be seen on His own. God is going to many of His, and use them to display His power and His love around the world. They will have an effect on the whole earth. These, are those that Peter described as; a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people.
Note: There is now great persecution, testing and trial, even some losing their lives for no reason other than, they are Christians and will not deny Christ. [Sudan and some of the mid- east nations.]
Remember that He told the church at Philadelphia that He knew that they had but little strength – but – they kept His word. God is telling us that we don’t have to depend on our strength or power any more. The Lord Himself calls His power from the heavenly dimension, and meets every need to face what is coming against you.
If we were to go back to the time of Habukkuk, that we were in several weeks ago, you would find that the mess the world is in today, it was in then. The world is sick, the whole of creation, sick without God. This is where he said, “The just shall live by His faith and in His faithfulness”. He is saying, that it will take more than man’s faith to heal the land. It will literally take God’s faith in Himself in man. It will take the faith of God and He will activate this in us when the need is in evidence. We need to hear God, and do as He says.
I want to put a special note in here and it is from 2 Chron 7:14, and I quote; “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and [I will] heal their land.”
Note: This special gift of faith may be that given in 1 Cor 12:9, and in verse 11 it declares that these are given severally as needed. Spiritual gifts are portions of God’s grace, apportioned by a faithful and merciful God.
I believe that there was great faith in the Old Testament and God’s people walked valiantly in what they had, but there is a New Covenant faith, faith that is authored and finished by Jesus and it is God’s faith, resident in us, because God is resident in us. He, in time of great need, will reach down inside us, and surface the faith and the grace needed to meet any need we may encounter. There is a need to mature and grow in grace, that is needed now, and in Hebrews 6:1-2, it is written;
“Therefore let us go on and get past the elementary stage in the teachings and doctrine of Christ (the Messiah), advancing steadily toward the completeness and perfection that belong to spiritual maturity. Let us not again be laying the foundation of repentance and abandonment of dead works (dead formalism) and of the faith [by which you turned] to God,
With teachings about purifying, the laying on of hands, the resurrection from the dead, and eternal judgment and punishment. [These are all matters of which you should have been fully aware of long ago.]
It seems that the outstanding thing that we have seen today is that there is a perseverance being described here, that takes us through, if we don’t faint, and I want to open something that God revealed to me just before Christmas, and this is the part I mentioned that we can say is redundant, but He said, “Do it”. Our spirit is born again of the Spirit of God and He dwells in us, and His Spirit (the Anointing), therein dwells the Greater One that is within us. Please keep this in mind for a moment. Again, from last week, turn again to James 1:21;
“So get rid of all uncleanness and the rampant outgrowth of wickedness, and in a humble (gentle, modest) spirit receive and welcome the Word which implanted and rooted [in your hearts] contains the power to save your souls.”
Closely examining the preceding portion, we will find that the main subject matter has been (a) the test of faith, that brings out endurance and steadfastness [patience]; (b) The need for wisdom, and how to ask for it; (c) Ridding ourselves of any doublemindedness, doubt, and unbelief and unrestrained anger. The word described, is the word that saves the soul, as the engrafted word, the rooted word, and that is the word that is settled in our hearts, engrafted there by sowing it in the soil of our hearts and that comes by confession and becoming doers of that word. Just one more time, lets go back to James 1:22-25; (I know this is a lot to look into but we are approaching a time where we need to know God’s heart in His word to us.)
“But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth].
For if anyone only listens to the Word without obeying it and being a doer of it, he is like a man who looks carefully at his [own] natural face in a mirror;
For he thoughtfully observes himself, and then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like.
But he who looks carefully into the faultless law, the [law] of liberty, and is faithful to it and perseveres in looking into it, being not a heedless listener who forgets but an active doer,[who obeys], he shall be blessed in his doing (his life of obedience).”
Because of the crowns that we spoke of before, lets put one other verse from James, and then we’ll venture somewhere else.
James 1:12; “Blessed (happy, to be envied) is the man who is patient under trial and stands up under temptation, for when he has stood the test and been approved, he will receive [the victor’s] crown of life which God has promised to those who love Him.”
The reason that I had us to return to this, is that it gives us an insight into the potential of fainting. Our born again spirit, is filled with the fullness of the Godhead, and no evil spirit can occupy that space, especially the spirit of fear. There is in us, the Spirit of *love, power and sound mind, but the spirit of fear can startle our soulish man and cause us to compromise and not finish the race on the same course that God assigned to us. Fainting spells have overcome many who gave way to the fear that can grip the flesh. Paul was past that, as was Stephen, and they were vessels of testimony, loving not their lives unto death.Paul wrote that letter to Timothy in 67 AD and he was executed just a few weeks later. He truly then had finished the course and was the hearer of; “Well done thou good and faithful servant.” *keep in mind for next week.
Note: We need to refresh our memory banks at times, and focus on the truth that the Greater One lives in us continually, and never leaves nor forsakes us. He is ever there to defend and take our parts. The problem is, and we have said all this before in this class, is that we don’t fit anywhere, anymore. We are new creations in an old suit! The old is in a continual battle with the new, trying to maintain the control over us which it had before we became new creations!! We are citizens of a new kingdom, temporarily resident in an old, politically confused and controlled mess that we call the world. The new wine that we now are will win and break through the old, rigid wineskin, by the Spirit. WE Will! Keep the Faith!
I want to go back to James just a moment and revue the word “engrafted”, because it is important to remember that it is the Word that is being spoken, able to save your souls, delivering us from the spirit of fear and potential to compromise. The word engrafted, or implanted or rooted as the Amplified version says, is from two words in greek; en, meaning to be received “in”. The other is phuo, meaning to blow, puff or expand. To germinate, as a seed producing sprouts, to produce and spring up.
This word brings forth the fruit of our growth, where we change from one degree of conformation to another. It is this power, of the Holy Spirit in the engrafted word working His changing grace within us. Jesus was indicating this to Peter when He said to him, “When you are strengthened, strengthen your brethren”. If you continue to read all the remaining accounts of Peter in the word, you will find no other place of compromise in his life. He had met the Lord in dimensions never before experienced by him.
Let me take you to some of what Peter had to say 35 years after the denial and probably some other trials. 1 Peter 4:12-14;
“Beloved, do not be amazed and bewildered at the fiery ordeal which is taking place to test your quality, as though something strange (unusual and alien to you and your position were befalling you.
But insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings (testings), rejoice, so that when His glory [full of radiance and splendor] is revealed, you may also rejoice with triumph [exultantly].
If you are censured and suffer abuse [because you bear] the name of Christ, blessed [are you—happy, fortunate, to be envied, with life-joy, and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of your outward condition], because the Spirit of glory, the Spirit of God, is resting upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.”
There is much going on in the world concerning our brothers and sisters in the Lord, that is not in the local or national news, but going on nevertheless. In Russia, the government has passed a law, requiring pastors to supply the names of all their worshippers and the contents of all their sermons. They want this information by April 2007 and I am sure, that no one thought it would come to this. Even in the worst of times, the church there had not been confronted with this type of requirement. It can happen here as well, and if some people had their way, it would already be happening. We need pray for these brothers and their congregations.
Just looking at events in this nation at the moment, things do not look good, but God is observing, not just the world, but our attitude and level of faith and love, and patience and peace, as we view the dark clouds of the possible coming storms.
Let’s go forward and look at the positive side of this scenario for a season. Turn to Jude, speaking of events that resemble our present day situation. Look at verses 19,20,21,24 & 25;
“It is these who are [agitators] setting up distinctions and causing divisions – merely sensual [creatures, carnal, worldly-minded people], devoid of the [Holy] Spirit and destitute of any higher spiritual life.
But you, beloved, build yourselves up [founded] on your most holy faith [make progress, rise like an edifice higher and higher, praying in the Holy Spirit;
Guard and keep yourselves in the love of God; expect and patiently wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah) – [which will bring you] unto life eternal.
Now to Him Who is able to keep you without stumbling or slipping or falling, and to present [you] unblemished (blameless and faultless] before the presence of His glory in triumphant joy and exultation [with unspeakable, ecstatic delight] –
To the one only God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory (splendor), majesty, might and dominion, and power and authority, before all time and now and forever (unto all the ages of eternity). Amen (so be it).”
I have a sense that we need to do a love check in our hearts. We need to see the level of compassion and mercy that we function in. This is key to conformation and key to our faith, so desperately needed in the days that we are in. This is the faith of God that works by love. Trying to work our faith without the attitude of love is like trying to drive a racecar without an engine. We may need to do a new study of the meaning of covenant, and we may get into that in the days ahead.
In the meantime, we should concentrate our focus on our God, Who is able, and have a total surrender, a total submission, and total alliance with our God. We all think that we would never deny Him in times of trial, which most of us have yet to encounter, but may I dare to give you something to think about. We carry the name of Christian, and we are quite quick to share with others that we are related to Jesus by rebirth. I am convicted of denial anytime I act in ways unbecoming to the name that I have taken – Christian! There are more ways to deny Him than meet the eye. Just something to think on this week.
Just one verse before we hang up this week. Turn to 1 Thess. 5:23 and 24;
“And may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through [separate you from profane things, make you pure and wholly consecrated to God]; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved sound and complete [and found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah).
Faithful is He Who is calling you [to Himself] and utterly trustworthy, and He will also do it [fulfill His call by hallowing and keeping you].”
These are exciting days, and some say frightful, but I think these days are days of special opportunity to be an exhibit of His love and His power to redeem, save, deliver, heal and provide supernaturally, and this is the lifting up of Jesus that will draw others to the kingdom. KEEP THE FAITH!!!
Class! Be Abundantly Blessed!!
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