THE PLAIN TRUTH ABOUT HEALING - What is Faith?
Part 4
WHY
should anyone lack the faith to be healed? Too few know what faith IS
and how to receive it! Here is the simple explanation of how you may
have faith - and how to increase it!
YOU CAN BE healed! Jesus said so! But also He said, "... According to your faith be it unto you" (Matthew 9:29).
First, are you sure you know what faith is? Very few know. Yet without
faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6) "... for he that
cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of
them that diligently seek him."
Looking down into our latter half of the 20th century, Jesus said, "...
when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" (Luke
18:8). Yet you must have faith for salvation!
HOW, then, may you have it? You can't work it up. Yet if you can't have
the faith to be healed, how can you have the faith to be saved? God
said, "For by grace are ye saved through faith... " (Ephesians 2:8).
Jesus foresaw the near total absence of faith in our time. Few today know what faith is or why they do not have it!
Certainly the world has almost lost sight of real FAITH. No wonder so
few have any - no wonder so many say, "My faith isn't very strong," or
"I just can't seem to work up the faith." People today do not know what
faith is or why they do not possess it. Yet without FAITH none can even
be saved!
Jesus had faith
When Jesus walked the earth in human flesh, He possessed faith!
Yet He said plainly,"Of myself, I can do NOTHING!"
Few realize that what He did - the miracles He performed - He did not
do by any supernatural power of His own. Everything He did, every
miracle He performed, was done literally through FAITH, setting us a
beautiful example.
But how, then, did He perform His miracles, accomplish His mighty works?
"... The FATHER that dwelleth in me," explained Jesus, "he doeth the works" (John 14:10).
Yes, even as you and I may be, Jesus was filled with God's Holy Spirit
- God's dynamic supernatural POWER! This power of God Almighty, the
Creator, was literally in Jesus; and the same identical power of the
same identical living God may be within you today!
All the apostles and evangelists of the first century true Church of
God did perform miracles, and even greater miracles than Jesus had
performed, until even Peter's shadow passing over the sick and
afflicted caused them to be healed!
Peter, Stephen, Philip, Paul - all common, humble, ordinary men
themselves - all had that power, the SAME identical power Jesus had,
because they lived and walked CLOSE TO GOD and were filled with the
Holy Spirit!
And we seem to LACK that power today, NOT because God denies us that
power, but because we are so close to a modern, materialistic world -
our minds are so filled with the material interests of this life; our
minds and our hearts are so far from God; we are so out of touch with
Him. Through lack of enough time spent in the study of His Word and
lack of enough of the right kind of surrendered, submissive, earnest
and heartrending PRAYER - and, consequently, because we are not filled
with the Holy Spirit!
So now let's ask two questions:
First, what is faith?
And second, how may we have it, and how may it be increased?
What faith is
Now notice, faith is the substance - the marginal rendering says
ASSURANCE - of things hoped for (Hebrews 11:1). So FAITH comes before
possession.
Once you have received the possession, you no longer hope for it. But
even before you receive it, you have it in SUBSTANCE; and that
ASSURANCE that you shall possess it - is faith.
Then again, faith is an EVIDENCE - the "evidence of things not seen."
Faith precedes the actual receiving of what you ask for. And faith is
the EVIDENCE you shall have it before you even SEE it. It is the
EVIDENCE of things not yet seen. You do not have it. You do not see it
or feel it - yet faith is your EVIDENCE that you have, or shall have,
it. Faith is the ASSURANCE of receiving that which you still HOPE for.
Proof of healing
So I want you to notice that when you hope for things or ask God for
things, there is an EVIDENCE - a proof, because where God is involved,
His evidence is proof - that you shall receive what you have asked. And
what is that proof, that evidence? Is it the actual receiving of the
answer, so you see or feel or hear that you have it? No!
Suppose, for instance, you were ill - taken with a disease. Now Jesus
healed the sick continually. And He said the works that He did - and
this was one of them - we should do also. Now suppose you ask God to
heal you. Naturally, you want some evidence that you are going to be
healed.
So what is that evidence, that proof? Is it the evidence of the pain
ceasing - or the swelling going down - something you can feel and see?
I know a man who said, "When I can see anyone healed by direct prayer,
then I'll believe in it." This man said he wanted to BELIEVE in it - he
wanted to have FAITH in it! He was looking for an EVIDENCE that he
could SEE, and he died without ever seeing it!
Because what we SEE - what we FEEL - is not the true EVIDENCE. Having
the thing - SEEING it - is not faith. Faith precedes possession because
FAITH is confidence, ASSURANCE, you shall possess it.
The human mind, naturally, can receive KNOWLEDGE only through the five
senses. These are five sole channels capable of transmitting knowledge,
by natural processes, to the human brain. The senses of seeing,
hearing, smelling, tasting, feeling.
Faith is spiritual
But that is not FAITH! Faith is a spiritual matter, and it has nothing to do with the five senses, which are physical.
Prayer is a spiritual matter. God is a SPIRIT! And when we ask, for
instance, for healing, we do have an evidence - proof positive - that
the healing will be done. But that evidence is not something seen or
felt or heard - it is not a physical evidence. It is rather the
spiritual evidence of FAITH. FAITH is our evidence.
Let's understand plainly where your human nature has clouded the issue
and deceived you. God has told you in Exodus 15 that He is your healer
- your God-healer - that is one of His names, and God is named what He
is. God sent His Son into the world to be beaten with stripes, to
suffer the penalty of your transgressions of nature's laws (which God
set in motion), in your stead. His body was broken for you, and by His
stripes you are healed! God gave you His word that it is His will to
heal you. He commanded you to call the elders of the Church, which you
did. He promised to heal you. But God has also made it a part of this
contract, in His Word, that "according to your faith be it unto you" -
in the very words of Christ!
Now FAITH is your evidence that God will do what He promised. You can't
see faith - you can't feel it. What you see or feel has nothing to do
with faith. But the point your human nature - Satan - wants you to
overlook is that God did not promise WHEN or HOW He would heal you!
Learning patience
God's purpose in your life is to transform you from what you've been
into the very image of His Son - into the very character of God
Himself. Part of this character is the learning of PATIENCE! And God
instructs you in James 1:3 that the trying of your faith works PATIENCE
into your character. God has revealed to you in this and other
scriptures that He will sometimes delay healing you in order to TRY
your faith and to teach you to be patient! Your healing, God has
promised, shall be according to your faith.
Faith is trusting God to do that which He has not yet done. After the
healing is completed you no longer need to exercise faith. Faith is the
ingredient you must exercise until God heals you - until you can see
and feel that you are healed. It's the same with spiritual salvation.
You are not yet in the Kingdom of God, but those in Christ have the
ASSURANCE - the faith - that you shall be. After God has healed you
then you won't need FAITH in it any longer. But your faith must remain
firm and steadfast and patient, regardless of what you see or feel,
until God actually heals you as He has promised to do.
Your human nature - Satan - wants you to believe that faith is
something you exercise in about 30 seconds, while you are still
praying, and then if God has not done what He promised as soon as you
expect, you are to find God guilty of lying. The instant you yield to
the devil's influence over your human nature and render a verdict that
God will not do what He promised just because He has not done it yet,
that moment you make God out a liar - you lost all FAITH in God. You
thereupon break your part of the agreement, which is to have faith and
keep on having faith and trusting God and relying upon Him UNTIL He
performs what He promised.
Simple reliance on God
Faith is simple reliance upon God's Word. It is the evidence of what
you do not see or feel. Therefore Christ calls upon you to have
patience - to keep on TRUSTING God, until He heals you, and then He
will heal you!
You must render your verdict based upon the evidence.
Which now, is the evidence you believe? That which you see and feel -
the physical evidences that often are deceptive - or your faith that
God's Word is true, that His promises are sure, that it is impossible
for God to lie?
If you BELIEVE this latter spiritual evidence and reject the physical
evidences of sight and of feeling, you pronounce sentence that His Word
has been VINDICATED by your verdict. You shall be RELEASED from the
disease and what He promised shall be carried out.
But, if you decide that the physical evidences of sight or feeling are
to be trusted over and above the Word of ALMIGHTY God, and you reject
His Word and His promise and refuse to believe in it - refuse, in other
words, to accept and trust in the evidence of FAITH until God completes
it, then you yourself must render your verdict, "NOT HEALED," and you
will not be healed!
You see, God does not promise healing or anything else unless we
BELIEVE. "According to your FAITH be it unto you," said Jesus. And
remember the FAITH must precede and, therefore, is a condition to the
possession.
One man expressed it very well: "Faith is the assurance that the things
which God said in His Word are true: and that God will act according to
what He has said in His Word. This assurance, this reliance on God's
Word, this confidence, is FAITH!" And it is a true Bible definition.
This Work of God has been built by putting it into actual practice.
Learning God's WILL
God says, "... be ye not unwise, but UNDERSTANDING what the will of the
Lord is" (Ephesians 5:17). Remember, whatever your need, the first
thing to do, to be sure of receiving an answer to your prayer, is to
search the Scriptures to learn whether it is God's WILL (Ephesians
5:17; II Timothy 3:14-17).
The Bible reveals God's will. We need never say, "Well, I know God
could heal me IF IT IS HIS WILL." You can know His will. And so far as
healing is concerned, I can tell you definitely that His Word says
plainly and emphatically that it is His will. The Bible is full of
promises - literally FULL of them. If you need anything study to see
whether God promised it, and if He has, HE CAN'T BREAK A PROMISE!
Claiming a promise
I remember one time several years ago when my two sons came to me and
asked me to do something for them - I don't remember now what. They
were then around 7 and 9 years old. I do remember I didn't want to do
it.
"But, Daddy, you PROMISED," they said, "and you've GOT TO KEEP YOUR PROMISE."
And then I remembered I had promised. Well, what do you think? Do you
think I could break a promise when my two sons came to me and put it
like that? No, and if you'll just as boldly tell God He has promised
and then CLAIM that promise as applied to your case and TRUST God to
keep it and quit worrying about it - quit trying to work up faith -
just RELAX and let God take over from there - leave it with Him - let
Him do it - He'll do it, every time!
I know whereof I speak, because I've put what I'm now telling you to
the test not once, but literally hundreds and thousands of times, and
God has never failed to keep His promise once. I've seen the answers
come so often and so frequently that I expect the answer when I ask!
God promises to supply every need - that if we'll seek first the
Kingdom of God and His RIGHTEOUSNESS, which is right doing, He will
provide every material need (Matthew 6:33).
Work a living example
Why, this very Work we conduct is a direct answer to prayer. This Work
of the Worldwide Church of God - The World Tomorrow broadcast, The
Plain Truth magazine and AMBASSADOR COLLEGE - which now has grown to
national and international scope and influence, started as small as any
work could start - literally from NOTHING.
It has been from the start 100 percent a work of FAITH, and we had to
really learn this lesson of faith before it had even started.
Why people lack faith
And now, very
briefly, WHY don't we have FAITH, and how may we get it, and how may it
be increased? So many say, "Well, I have no impression - I have no
feeling, no conviction - that I shall get the answer."
They want to wait until they get a certain CONVICTION, a certain
FEELING, a sort of ASSURANCE they can FEEL, before they really believe
they shall have the answer.
But THAT is not faith!
That is FEELING!
Your feeling, your convictions, your impressions, have absolutely not one thing or the other to do with FAITH.
FAITH HAS ONLY TO DO WITH GOD'S WORD! The one question is, Has God
promised it in the Bible? If He has, then probabilities; possibilities,
feelings, convictions, impressions, have nothing whatsoever to do with
it. God has a thousand ways we know nothing of, of answering and
providing whatever He has promised. We don't need to see HOW He is
going to do it or even WHEN!
And that's another thing, He almost never will do it the WAY we expect.
So don't try to figure out how it is possible for God to do it. You are
trusting SUPERNATURAL POWER! Then BELIEVE in that power. God works in
mysterious ways His wonders to perform. What He has promised He will
perform; but He will do it His way and in HIS TIME. Leave all that to
Him and just TRUST HIM. Rely upon His Word.
God's gift
And let us remember FAITH is the GIFT OF GOD.
So many think that everything else that comes from God is His gift, but
the FAITH REQUIRED TO receive these things is something we ourselves
must somehow work up or strain and strive for. But we have to just
relax and TRUST God, even for the FAITH by which we receive everything
else! (Ephesians 2:8.)
In Revelation 14:12 is a description of the true Church of THIS DAY.
Those in this Church have the FAITH OF JESUS. Notice, the FAITH OF
JESUS! It is not just our faith in HIM, but His faith - the very faith
with which He performed His miracles - placed in us and acting in us.
How can you get it? Draw closer to God. Get to know God. Surrender all
the way to Him and do His will. And then PRAY. You get to know Him in
PRAYER. We are too close to the material things. Through PRAYER, much
more prayer, you can come closer to God and the spiritual things. And
what a happy, joyous experience it is, once you have really done it!
Faith required for salvation
No subject pertaining to Christian salvation is more generally misunderstood than that of saving FAITH.
Just "BELIEVE on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" is the
popular teaching today. And that statement is absolutely true - if you
understand what kind of BELIEVING is required.
Unfortunately millions are being deceived - led to trust in a faith
that will never save one single soul - by a very popular and very false
teaching.
It is customary to quote only a PART of the scriptures on this subject
- reading a false meaning into them - and thus by subtle half-truths,
popular teachings shackle most of Christendom to spiritual blindness
and deceptions.
Do these scriptures contradict?
God does not
usually reveal all the truth respecting a particular subject in any one
passage alone. "Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make
to understand doctrine?... precept must be upon precept, precept upon
precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a
little" (Isaiah 28:9-10). To understand any general subject in the
Bible, it is necessary to view all the scriptural evidence touching
that particular subject. And we cannot read our inherited or desired
meaning into any particular passage; for "no prophecy of the scripture
is of any private interpretation" (II Peter 1:20), but each passage is
interpreted by, and in the light of, other texts.
For example, it is quite popular to quote Romans 3:20: "Therefore by
the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight..."
and from this passage alone assume that salvation comes by faith, in
disobedience to God's law! Those who thus interpret this passage never
tell you that in Romans 2:13 the same apostle Paul was inspired to
write: "... not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the
DOERS of the law shall be justified."
Is there contradiction here? If the one scripture is intended to reveal
that we do not have to make an effort to obey God's law to be justified
and then saved - but that we are saved by faith without obedience to
God's law - then, indeed, God contradicts Himself in His Word! And if
you wish to make Romans 3:20 say that, you must consistently
acknowledge there is contradiction in the Scriptures, and if this be
true, you have no basis for your faith!
No contradictions here
Again, Ephesians
2:8-9: "... 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." But those who quote this text so freely to teach the doctrine
of no works never tell you that the same inspired scripture says also:
"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them" (verse 10).
"What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and
have not works? can faith save him?... Even so FAITH, if it hath not
works, IS DEAD, being alone... I will show thee my faith BY my works.
Thou BELIEVEST that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also
believe, AND tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith
without works IS DEAD?" (James 2:14-20).
There is no contradiction here!
Rather, by putting all the scriptures on the subject of saving faith
together, we learn that there are TWO KINDS of faith. And the kind so
blindly trusted in by the majority of this day is nothing but a DEAD
faith - and a DEAD faith never will save one soul! Notice! James 2:20:
"... faith without works is DEAD" - just a DEAD faith.
James continues: "Was not Abraham our father JUSTIFIED by works, when
he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how FAITH
wrought with his works, and BY WORKS WAS FAITH MADE PERFECT?... Ye see
then that BY WORKS A MAN IS JUSTIFIED, and not by faith only" (James
2:21-24). Then are we saved by works instead of faith? No, NEVER! We
are saved by FAITH! But faith functions with our works and BY WORKS our
FAITH is MADE PERFECT! That is LIVING FAITH!
Why salvation is needed
Why do we even need salvation? Because we have SINNED, and the penalty of sin is DEATH!
But how have we sinned? What Is sin, anyhow? Sin is the transgression of LAW, is God's answer (I John 3:4).
"Yes," answers the victim of modern fables, "but we are not under the
law today, but UNDER GRACE!" Why certainly! "What then?" asks the
inspired Paul, "shall we SIN [transgress the law] because we are not
under the law, but under grace?" And Paul's answer is, "GOD FORBID"
(Romans 6:15). And again, "... Shall we continue in SIN [transgressing
the law], that grace may abound? GOD FORBID. How shall we, that are
dead to sin, live any longer therein?" (Romans 6:1-2).
The law has a penalty - DEATH. It claims the life of the one who
transgresses it. The law has power to take the life of the
transgressor. It therefore is more powerful than the sinner - and is
OVER the sinner, holding a claim on his life. It is the SINNER who is
UNDER the law. But when the sinner REPENTS of his transgression and
accepts the sacrifice of Christ as payment of the penalty of the law,
then he is PARDONED - UNDER GRACE - the law no longer stands OVER him,
claiming his life. Those who are still sinning are still UNDER the law!
And those who, through repentance, obedience and FAITH, have turned
from disobedience and are, through faith, KEEPING the law are the only
ones who are UNDER GRACE!
God's spiritual mirror
Let us
understand it! "... By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be
justified in his sight..." No, certainly not! That scripture is 100
percent true, and there is no contradiction! You cannot be justified BY
the deeds of the law - not at all!
Why? The last half of this same verse gives the answer. Why do most
preachers never quote it?... "For by the law is the KNOWLEDGE of sin"
(Romans 3:20). THAT'S WHY!
The purpose of the law is not to forgive, to justify, to wash away, to
cleanse. Only THE BLOOD OF CHRIST can do that! The purpose of the law
is to tell us what sin is - to define it, to REVEAL it - so we can quit
it. Sin is the transgression of the law - that's what sin IS.
All women ought to understand this. In every woman's handbag is a
little mirror. She knows what it is for. Every little while she takes
out this mirror and steals a glance at her face. Sometimes it reveals a
speck of dirt. And we might truthfully say, "By the use of these
mirrors are no dirty faces washed clean." You women understand what we
mean! But do you throw your mirrors away because by them your faces are
not washed? Of course not - what a silly question it seems when applied
to a MATERIAL case! And if we ask you WHY your faces are not washed
clean by your mirrors, you answer: "Because by the mirror comes the
KNOWLEDGE OF THE DIRT."
God's law is His spiritual mirror. We look into it and see the dirt on
our hearts! But by looking at the law or keeping it no dirt is WASHED
from our hearts - only Christ's BLOOD can do that. By the law comes the
KNOWLEDGE OF SIN!
Listen to James explain it! "But be ye DOERS of the word, and not
hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the
word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face
in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and
straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh
into the perfect LAW of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a
forgetful hearer, but a DOER of the work, this man shall be blessed in
his deed" (James 1:22-25).
Faith establishes law
"But," argues
the no-law deceiver, "no man can keep the Commandments. It is not
humanly possible. Since FAITH has come, we keep no law - faith has made
it VOID."
Thus even "... Satan himself is transformed into an angel of LIGHT.
Therefore it is no great thing if HIS MINISTERS also be transformed as
the ministers of righteousness... For such are false apostles,
deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ"
(II Corinthians 11:13-15).
"Do we then make void the law through faith?" comes the question in
inspired Scripture - and the answer: "God FORBID: yea, we ESTABLISH THE
LAW." (Romans 3:31).
Yes, faith establishes the law! By keeping it, is faith made PERFECT!
Yet, can we keep the Commandments? Is it possible? Satan's no-law deceivers say NO! What is the PLAIN TRUTH?
A man came to Jesus and asked how to be saved. The Savior Himself
replied, "... if thou wilt enter into life, KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS"
(Matthew 19:17). "When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly
amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said
unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are
possible" (verses 25-26).
There is Christ's own answer! With men it is impossible - utterly
impossible to really KEEP His Commandments. But - here's the blessed
truth - WITH GOD, it is possible, even to keep His Commandments. Do you
begin to see? IT TAKES FAITH - faith in the power of God! And, just as
your own diligent effort coupled with faith makes faith perfect, so
faith coupled with your effort makes PERFECT OBEDIENCE! The two go hand
in hand. And you cannot have the one without the other.
A LIVING FAITH, the only kind that will SAVE, is an active faith - one
that trusts God to make it possible to OBEY Him, to live the true
Christian life, to KEEP His blessed Commandments!
Think! Could a just God command men to do what is IMPOSSIBLE to do? Or
can we conceive of Jesus as a smart-aleck young man who knew more than
His Father and who did away with His Father's COMMANDMENTS? How absurd!
Yet this is the popular conception today.
The law is eternal
God's law is not
a horrible monster! Just and right laws are a terror only to the
criminal - they are made to PROTECT the good! God's law is PERFECT
(Psalm 19:7), it is a SPIRITUAL law, (Romans 7:14), HOLY and just and
good (Romans 7:12). ALL His commandments are SURE and stand fast
FOREVER AND EVER (Psalm 111:7-8). Don't you believe it when men tell
you differently!
God's law is, simply, LOVE! It is the perfect way of life. Every
particle of human suffering, unhappiness, misery and death has come
solely from its transgression. It was given to make man HAPPY and is
the only philosophy of life that can do so. It came from a God of LOVE,
and LOVE is the fulfilling of the law (Romans 13:10).
But not YOUR own natural love! It requires "... the love of God is shed
abroad in our hearts BY THE HOLY GHOST...". (Romans 5:5). God has, and
will give you, the love that will fulfill His law. And so it is
possible through FAITH and the GIFT of God's Holy Spirit for man to
keep His Commandments! And whoever claims differently, God calls a
plain LIAR (I John 2:4).
Faith necessary for obedience
The true
Commandment-keeper is forced to trust God to make obedience possible.
And thus faith does not void, but establishes the law! And to keep the
law requires FAITH!
A thrilling example of this eternal truth is recorded in the book of
Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, erected a great golden image.
"Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations,
and languages, that at what time ye hear the sound of the [band]... ye
fall down and worship the golden image... " (Daniel 3:4-5). "And whoso
falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the
midst of a burning fiery furnace" (verse 6).
Set over the affairs of the province of Babylon were Daniel's three
young Jewish friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego. One of the
Commandments of God's eternal spiritual law forbids such worship of
images.
Had you been in their place, what would YOU have done? Would you not
have said: "Well, I have to bow down to this image. I have to do it or
be killed!" And perhaps you would have excused yourself by reasoning
thus: "I don't think God would be fair if He punished me for this, when
He knows I am FORCED to do it. Anyway, He tells us to be subject to the
power of state!" Yes, it is easy to use reason to excuse disobedience
to God. But God is not looking for chances to punish us - but rather
for opportunities to SAVE US through faith - to save us from the folly
of SIN and the sad consequence our own acts impose!
God's law is intended to protect us from suffering. Whatever we sow we
shall reap. It is not God who punishes us when we do wrong; it is
merely our own acts rebounding like a boomerang!
But these three young Jews knew the truth - that we should OBEY God
rather than men, that through FAITH God makes it possible. When they
firmly REFUSED to bow down to worship the king's image, Nebuchadnezzar
in his rage and fury commanded they be brought before him (verse 13).
Listen to the quiet, trusting, unafraid answer of these lads. "... O
Nebuchadnezzar... our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the
burning fiery furnace..." (verses 16-18).
A test of faith
Sometimes God tries our faith. He tried theirs. You might think He failed them, but He only permitted their faith to be tested.
"Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was
changed... therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the
furnace seven times more than it was wont to be heated... Then these
men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their
other garments" - surely the God whom they trusted would have them
released now? But no, there was no physical evidence whatever that God
so much as heard! - "and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery
furnace" (verses 19-21).
The furnace was so hot the flames leaped out and "... slew those men
that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego." And they fell down "...
bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace" (verses 22-23).
God permitted them actually to be thrown in! Was He unmindful of those
who trusted in Him to make possible the keeping of His Commandments?
Not God!
The king looked into the furnace, and said, "... Lo, I see four men
loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the
form of the fourth is like the Son of God" (verse 25). So
Nebuchadnezzar came near the mouth of the furnace and called to them.
'... Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, ye servants of the most high
God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego
came forth of the midst of the fire... these men, upon whose bodies the
fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were
their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them. Then
Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abed-nego, who hath sent his angel, and DELIVERED his
servants that TRUSTED IN HIM..." (verses 26-28).
There was an example of living FAITH - a faith that TRUSTED God to make
it possible to live the way of His law! Yes, WITH God, it is possible
to keep all His Commandments. Don't let any man deceive you to the
contrary.
Worshiping in vain
When God's Word
says, "... BELIEVE on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be
saved..." (Acts 16:31), it does not mean the DEAD faith now popularly
taught. The common teachings of this day distort this to mean a mere
belief in the FACTS of Christ's existence, His sacrifice and His saving
work. Just accept these FACTS and accept HIM - without any obedience to
God's laws! But the demons believe these things - and they TREMBLE -
but they are not thereby saved!
Christ was the Messenger of the new covenant - a Messenger sent from
God. You cannot BELIEVE on such a divine Messenger unless you believe
and obey the MESSAGE that He brought. "... If thou wilt enter into
LIFE," was His teaching, "KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS" (Matthew 19:17).
"REPENT," said the inspired Peter, and "... ye SHALL receive the gift
of the Holy Ghost" (Acts 2:38). God gives His Holy Spirit only to them
that OBEY HIM (Acts 5:32). And His Holy Spirit is the LOVE that God
gives us to fulfill and to keep His Commandments. And it all comes BY
FAITH!
Christ came to save us FROM, not in, our sins. To FREE US from the
enslavement of sin and unhappiness and wretchedness it brings - not to
make us free to commit sin.
Is it possible to BELIEVE in Christ - to worship Him - in the customary
manner of the day, and yet be lost? Christ Himself says YES!
"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven; but he that DOETH the will of my Father which is in
heaven" (Matthew 7:21).
Hear Him again!
"Howbeit IN VAIN do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the
commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold
the tradition of men... (Mark 7:7-8).
There it is! From Jesus' own lips! Such a dead faith - such worship- is
IN VAIN. Those who trust in it, and in the men and denominations that
teach it, ARE LOST! And the quicker we come to realize it, the better.
God's true purpose
God's PURPOSE in
salvation is to rescue men from SIN and its resulting unhappiness,
misery and death. To REPENT of sin is the first step. Then the BLOOD OF
CHRIST, upon acceptance and faith, cleanses of all past sins. And by
FAITH we are kept from sin in the future. Thus the resulting
righteousness is of FAITH - the righteousness imparted from God.
We are not justified BY THE LAW - we are justified by the blood of
Jesus Christ. But this justification will be given only on condition
that we REPENT of our transgressions of God's law. And so it is, after
all, only the DOERS of the law that shall be JUSTIFIED (Romans 2:13).
How plain and how beautiful is God's TRUTH!
Reprint from the August 1978 Issue of the Good news Magazine
