Text: “I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear: but now (when faith is renewed) mine eye seeth. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”
Job 42:5-6.
Good morning, tried and tested Christian! Your faith in Christ and mine has been sorely
tried ‘in the furnace of affliction’, by trials, tribulations, testings,
temptations, hard oppositions and, if we are honest, too many personal failures
too.
However, by God’s Sovereign and ever-given
grace, you and I have come once again to our Spiritual senses; put off all
attempts to break our faith; and ran into the arms of our Saviour, Jesus Christ
for the Eternal security that He alone can give. That’s the victory, dear friend!
The Psalmist, after having listed his
experiences with the oppositions of the world, flesh, and Devil (verses 9-16) –
and having allowed his human, natural feelings to make him fear the worst – he
is drawn compassionately back, by faith, to the Source of all his Divine help.
No matter how far we allow ourselves, the
world, or Satanic forces to dread the worst, our faith in Christ and His Divine
Victory at Golgotha’s Cross, will always lift us back up and point us in the
path of God’s will. Faith overcomes all
obstacles. Praise God!
“For whatsoever is born of God overcometh
the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he/she that overcometh the world, but
he/she that believeth (trusts, and continues to trust) that Jesus is the Son of
God?” (1 John 5:4-5)
“Now faith is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1)
“But without faith it is impossible to
please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is (exists), and
that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6)
Where then do we initially get this
necessary FAITH? Faith to believe and
receive Salvation in Christ alone; through His Atonement Sacrifice at the Cross
alone; by God the Father’s Sovereign grace alone; and according, at all times,
to His Sovereign will alone; and for His greater glory alone?
You
and I have many questions, but God’s Word alone has all the vital Eternal
answers! We see all things clearly, when
we look with the eyes of true faith!
10.
Faith: the gracious gift of God.
(Ephesians 2:8-9)
Text:
“For
by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is
the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:7-8)
Definition of the term: Nothing interprets, or defines, Holy
Scripture better than Holy Scripture.
Therefore, we find a profound, yet perfect, definition of the concept of
Christian Faith in God’s own Word.
“Now faith is
the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews
11:1)
Faith, thus, can only
be understood as a Supernatural quality, something that God alone gives to
those whom He desires to give it.
Being defined as ‘...the substance of
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.’; we comprehend that it is a
Divinely given gift without which we never can, nor ever will be, Eternally
saved.
Faith is defined, in the general sense,
by theologian Alan Cairns of Faith Free Presbyterian Church, Greenville, South
Carolina, as ‘...the assent of the mind to the truth of something of
which we do not have an immediate conception, whereas knowledge is the
perception of the truth of something of which we have an immediate conception.’
Faith, according to Thomas
Halyburton, one of Scotland’s greatest theologians: ‘...the grace of faith is
basically a hearty approbation of God’s method of saving sinners. We may define it as the work of the Holy
Spirit, His gift to God’s elect, enabling them to believe as true whatever God
has revealed in His Word and to accept, receive, and rest upon Christ alone for
justification, sanctification, and Eternal life. It is never alone, being always accompanied
by repentance, and producing good works.’
God’s people say a hearty ‘Amen!’ to this truth.
“Even so faith, if it hath not
works, is dead, being alone.” (James
2:17-26)
Faith, the true genuine, God-given
article, is ‘...the faith once delivered unto the saints.’ (Jude 3)
It is a true faith that will never depart from God’s Word as the only
means of obtaining it; and those genuinely possessing such a Divine gift will
never, even upon threat of torture or death, ‘...depart from the faith, giving
heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy;
having their conscience seared with a hot iron...’ (1 Timothy 4:1-2)
“So then, Faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the Word of God.” (Romans 10:17)
In this sense, we understand more clearly
what the great apostle Paul was fearlessly declaring when, not long before he
would be martyred for having such faith, he cried: “I have fought a good fight,
I have finished my course, I have KEPT the faith...” (2 Timothy 4:7)
The Divine Giver of this Supernatural
faith has therefore KEPT Paul Eternally ‘...through faith unto
Salvation...’. Praise His Name! (1 Peter 1:4-5)
Faith is an absolute necessity for
Salvation, we cannot be saved without it; and without it, we can never
‘...please...’ God.
“But without faith it is impossible to
please Him; for he that cometh to God must believe that He is (i.e. that God
actually exists!), and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek
Him.” (Hebrews 11:6) (See the full doctrine of Faith on our website www.ulsterchristians.org)
Thought:
“Verses 17-19 Neither the persecuting hand of men nor the chastising hand of
God relaxed ancient, singular saints.
Believers resemble the moon, which emerges from her eclipse b keeping
her motion, and ceases not to shine because the dogs bark at her. Shall we cease to be professors because
others will not cease to be persecutors?” (William Secker 1660)