Day 36 Faith

Day 36

Faith

“…Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

(Luke 18:8)

Faith is the 1^st Treasure

Faith is the 1^st treasure that you must guard with your life!

My dear beloved, faith is our plane ticket to heaven.  Whoever does not have faith will miss the flight to heaven, because we are saved by grace through faith:

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.”  (Ephesians 2:8)

Therefore, it is through faith in Christ Jesus our Lord that we have peace with God:

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”  (Romans 5:1-2)

So, if it is by faith in Christ Jesus our Lord, that we have peace with God, it stands to reason that if we do not have faith in Christ within us, we are enemies with God!  Now if we do not have peace with God, we are not fit to spend eternity with God.  Who wants to spend an hour with his enemy, let alone eternity?  As Christ approached the end of His ministry on earth, He was troubled.  Being God in the flesh, He foresaw the apostasy of the church, He saw men departing from the faith, He saw men giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons.  Consequently He posed the question that troubles me a lot:

“Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”  (Luke 18:8)

And why is Christ concerned about finding faith on earth?  See, He foresaw the future, the apostasy of the church, and many departing from the simplicity of the faith, believing fables.  He groaned in His Spirit because He was about to lay down His life for all of us, and all we have to do is simply to believe in Him.  Yet He foresaw us failing to believe in Him from our hearts as our only means of salvation, and He was very concerned.  Why?

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”  (Hebrews 11:6)

My dear beloved, God our Father in His own divine wisdom and counsel decided to save us by His grace through faith!  He has canceled all our sins through the cross of Jesus Christ our Lord.  All God expects us to do is to believe in Christ Jesus.  All we have to do is to believe that Christ indeed has done this for us.  God expects us to cease all our strivings in pleasing Him, and just accept His gift of salvation by grace that He has so freely given us by hanging Christ on the cross in our place.  My dear beloved, righteousness is credited to us through faith in Christ Jesus our Lord!

But often we do not believe in the free gift of God as enough, and we depart from the beautiful simplicity of the gospel and instead entangle ourselves with doctrines of food, clothing, and days!  We make the sacrifice of Christ of no effect.  Truly these things are profitable only if our heart is set on Christ’s sacrifice on the cross as our only means of salvation.  Otherwise we bring condemnation on ourselves and God will not be pleased with us:

“Now the just shall live by faith;
      But if anyone draws back,
      My soul has no pleasure in him.”

 But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.”  (Hebrews 10:38-39)

Faith, my dear beloved, is an indispensable element of Christianity!

The Scriptures describe faith as such:

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

This signifies that through the eyes of faith, we can see the things which God has promised, and by the hope God has poured into our hearts through faith by the Holy Spirit He has given us, we may have confidence of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord!  Amen!

“But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” (Acts 7:55-56)

Faith makes the invisible, visible.  Stephen saw the heavens open and Jesus Christ our Lord standing at the right hand of God! Hallelujah! Amen!

“I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.”  (2 Corinthians 12:2-4)

Paul was caught up to the third heaven.  He was caught up into Paradise and he heard inexpressible words, words which are not lawful for a man to utter.  It is only by faith that the invisible becomes visible.  God is Spirit, which means God is invisible.  He cannot be seen.  But faith makes God visible and real to those who believe in Him.

My dear beloved, it is only by faith that we can have fellowship with God and it is by faith that we believe that which He has promised.  He will do it. Faith enables us to lay hold of that which cannot be seen. Therefore, faith is our most effective defense weapon against the devil and his gospel, seducing us with such lies as, “don’t wait for heaven, have your best life now.”

My dear beloved:

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
   Nor have entered into the heart of man
  The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

(1 Corinthians 2:9)

To love God is to believe in Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen!

 “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”  (2 Corinthians 5:7)

Therefore, my dear beloved, let no one or anything rob you of this confidence we have in God, which is our faith in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Let no doctrine of demons or trickery of men come your way.  Let no one preach to you another gospel and another Jesus.  Hold fast to your faith in Christ which has great recompense, for the Lord is at hand and His reward comes with Him.  Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty that you are called by grace through faith in Christ, which gives you access to eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen!

“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.” 

“Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power”

“Buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead

So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind.”  (Colossians 2:6-10, 12, 16-18)

Finally, my dear beloved, faith is your ticket to heaven.  Let no one or anything take it away from you.  Guard your faith with your life unto death. Let no one cheat you of the blessed hope in Christ to which we have access only by faith. The Lord Jesus is at hand.  Hold fast!

“Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.”  (Revelation 3:11)

                                                                                                              

“Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, 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 confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”  (Hebrews 10:19-23)

“Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;  above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:14-17)

That in the end we may also say:

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”   (2 Timothy 4:7-8)

The Lord Jesus says:

 “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”  (John 11:25-26)

Yes Lord, I believe with all my heart that You are the Christ, the Son of God.  Amen!

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you always.  Amen!

Meditation:  Faith in Christ is my ticket to heaven. If I lose faith in Christ Jesus my Lord, I miss heaven!

Prayer points:  LORD, please deliver me from my unbelief, and please increase my faith in Jesus Christ my Lord!  Please help me to set my mind on things above and not on things on earth.  I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Commitment:  I commit myself from today, by the grace of God, to walk by faith, not by sight, to set my mind on things above, not on things of the earth.  Through Christ who strengthens me.  Amen!