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The
Hall of Faith
and the faithful
members of God's Inductees! -
Part II
This is the second
in a series of studies that will investigate members of The Hall of
Faith. Hebrews 11 is an astounding chapter that gives us detailed
information on those saints who took God at His Word without seeing a clear
picture of what would lie ahead for them! Let me first say that under
this wonderful dispensing of God's grace, there is no expression of faith
required for us since through Jesus Christ, everything has been accomplished
that we will ever need! God's grace allowed man to respond by faith
for salvation since Genesis. Today, Christ's Body differs from the saints that we will read about
in that an expression of faith or action was required of them in their response to God's commands.
Noah
- 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.
Hebrews 11:7
So far we have touched on
the fact that these men of faith in Hebrews 11 pleased God in that:
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Abel offered unto
God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain
-
Enoch's testimony
pleased God
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Noah moved with
fear being warned off God.
Noah found grace in
the sight of God in that he gave him an opportunity to
 respond
by faith. Noah exercised his free will and chose to follow God. How
you may ask? Being warned by God of the coming judgment he moved with
fear by building an ark, and in the process saved himself and his house
hold! In no way friends should
we assume that since Noah found grace in the sight of God that he held the
same privileges and spiritual blessings as members of the Body of Christ do today! The belief that
Noah's assumed "grace" is the same "grace" that believers have today is an
affront to God to say the least. Did Noah have:
- Justification through faith alone
through Christ alone?
- Was he eternally secure?
- Was he complete in Christ?
- Was he accepted in the beloved?
- Did he have peace with God through
Our Lord Jesus Christ?
- Was the complete righteousness of Jesus Christ
imputed to him?
Many may
erroneously think that Noah did have these blessings but in fact
he only had security while he was in the ark and as long as he took God
at His word! That fact that Noah was one of the members of
"The Hall" indicated that he was faithful to the end but His
conditional
righteousness only typified the righteousness that was to come
someday (through Christ). Noah only knew what God had requested of him: build an
ark. Noah knew that God would judge the earth and that he and his family
would be safe in the ark. Noah was given a divine command and was a
public ambassador to the members of the earth concerning the judgment
that was to come. At the time of Noah's life, great wickedness had
manifested itself over the earth (Genesis 6:12,13). Folks, man has
always been in a downward spiral. He is not getting better, he is
getting worse and given time without God's intervention, he will
ultimately destroy himself.
I am disturbed at the
fact that there are quite a number of prominent pastor's and teachers
that have erroneously
taught the theory of a "local" flood as opposed to a world-wide
cataclysmic flood. If this "local flood theory" is true then
Jesus Christ must be a liar and the bible is false since He stated
clearly in Matthew 24 the coming, end-time judgment of
the world. If you are honest with yourself in practicing proper
bible hermeneutics (biblical interpretation), then contextually speaking you
will realize that when Christ spoke specifically of Noe (Noah), he was
responding to the question his disciples asked concerning the end of
time! Logically then, if Christ referenced Noah in the same context of
"end times" the theory of a localized flood is not only wrong and flawed but
deceptive and perverted (opposite of God's instructions) as well. In
addition, a localized flood would not have its waters exceed the
highest mountain on the earth by over 22 feet (Genesis 7:20)!
"...In no way friends should we
assume that since Noah found grace in the sight of God that he held the same
privileges and spiritual blessings as members of the Body of Christ do
today! The belief that Noah's assumed "grace" is the same "grace" that
believers have today is an affront to God to say the least".....
In summary, Noah was not only
a just man but the bible says that he was perfect in his generations.
This also tells us that his family believed God, were also moved with
fear and didn't just go along for the ride. For 100 years I do not think
that his family stood around as a 500 foot vessel was being constructed! In
fact and on a different note, as this structure was being assembled, it
could not have been any more of a visual warning to a world on the brink of
destruction. Yet the bible says in 1 Peter 3 that only 8 people were saved. Abraham
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By faith
Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after
receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he
went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country,
dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same
promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and
maker is God.
Hebrews 11:8-10
In a great testimony of faith, Abram took God
at His word when he "went out, not knowing whither he went".
In Genesis 12:1, we read how God called Abram (later to be called
Abraham):
- out of thy country
- and thy kindred
- and from thy father's house
Abram was the ninth from Shem, who was
the son of Noah. Even after the flood and after the judgment of the
nations at the Tower of Babel mankind still worshipped and served
other gods and Abram's house was no different.
Joshua 24:2
And Joshua said unto all
the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the
other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and
the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.
Romans 1:21-32 clearly
depicts the world as it was back in the time of Abram (and the way it
stands today apart from Jesus Christ). But as God ushered in a new
dispensation or dealing with mankind, Abram would be the
instrument God would use in accomplishing His great plan. In
Genesis 12:1, God called Abram out from idolatry when he told him to get
out of his country, leave his kindred and father's house....
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How should we pray concerning
God's involvement during the most difficult of times?
And the same day,
when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other
side. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he
was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. And there
arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it
was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow:
and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we
perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be
still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto
them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? And they
feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this,
that even the wind and the sea obey him?
Mark 4:35-41
Over the last several
weeks, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida and Texas have been ravaged by
storms. More specifically, Hurricane Katrina has caused loss of life ( 2000+
last count), property damage, displacement and tremendous economical
shockwaves. As of this writing Hurricane Rita, another major
hurricane, took aim on the already grief stricken Gulf coast.
In all the death,
destruction and confusion in the most terrible of times, people begin to
look for a reason to point fingers or begin to place blame
 on
people, governments, agencies or other leaders for the unfortunate
circumstances soon after they are able to re-focus from the diversion of the
actual event. The fact of the matter is no one can be blamed but mankind
itself but not for the reasons that most people think. Friends, no one could
have predicted or prepared for what happened in New Orleans. Hindsight is
always 20 /20 as we all know. If my family was impacted, I'd be looking to
blame someone too, its our fallen nature. It's easy after the fact to be
critical of what should have been done prior to this storm. Millions
of dollars would have had to have been spent to keep New Orleans or any
other coastal city safe from a storm of that magnitude. That tax burden and
expense was simply not affordable. But let's go a step further. What about
the tornadoes that ravage or the tsunami's that flood cites in an instant?
Let's not forget that we
still live in a sin-cursed world that went into motion beginning at the
Garden of Eden. The storms, extremities in weather, heat, cold etc... are
all part of the results of man's fall. It was not God's intent or desire
that this break in
fellowship occur. But man in his rebellion chose otherwise and after 6,000
years we are still living with the consequences of that choice in this world
we live in!
With all of this in mind,
many ponder God's involvement in the tragedies of life especially during a
natural disaster since these events are often called an act of God, implying
that He had some direct involvement. Let's make sure we understand that all
things are in control by God's hand in regard's to His permissive will. Well
if that's true, one may wonder about how to pray to God during these
cataclysmic events.
In the opening of this
article, we can read in Mark 4 about Jesus Christ's rebuking
of a great wind storm and know that God Himself could snuff out the
greatest threats by simply saying "Peace, be still!" Logically then,
we can wonder about the millions of prayers that people prayed to God about
concerning Hurricane Katrina and question why this devastation still
took place.
When Jesus Christ walked
this planet, He came to redeem His people Israel (Matthew 15:24)
since the Gentile nations had no interest in God. It was God's intent that
He call out a separate nation (Israel) to be a light unto the Gentiles.
Christ certainly knew He would provide the atonement through His vicarious
death at Calvary for the sins of many but as He went about to establish His
reign, His dealings with mankind at that time were very clear in that:
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Christ's
miracles were evident and indisputable unto this day. In fact, John
recorded in his gospel that there were so many miracles there
would not have been enough books to contain them if it had been possible
to capture them all.
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If
you lived and were sick during this time, Jesus (and the apostles) could
heal you. Later, even the passing of Peter's shadow (Acts 5:15) could
heal the sick!
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In John chapters 14, 15 and 16 Jesus
specifically told His followers that whatever they asked for, they would
receive through prayer.
If we can believe God and take Him at His word (and we can...) there seems
to be some conflict here! Either God's Word is a lie or man has missed
something very important in understanding how God is dealing with him today!
Friends, millions and millions of people were praying that Hurricane Katrina
would go out to sea, break up or divert elsewhere, but it did not! Instead,
this storm will be one of the most costliest in U.S. history. Erroneously,
church leaders will blame people for not having enough faith or worse blame
the moral decadence of New Orleans which in turn caused God to judge them.
Do we really believe New Orleans is any worse than any other city, town or
home today!?!? If God was in the judgment business today based on our
conduct in mind, thought and deed I wouldn't be writing this nor would you
be reading this....
Did you know that today under His marvelous
dispensing of grace,
we have grace and peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ? In all 13 of Paul's letters to the Body of Christ, he made
that fact known. If we then have grace and peace from God our Father and the
Lord Jesus Christ, how could He then turn around and judge us?!? Were not
Christians impacted by Hurricane Katrina? If there was only one Christian
down there then reason would dictate that none of Paul's letters could be
true since Christ told him to tell us that due to His accomplishments at
Calvary, we now have grace and peace! Either we have grace and peace with
God or we don't! Folks we do!!! What we don't have is an
understanding of how God is dealing with us. God has dispensed a new set
of instructions for man as a result of the great love Jesus Christ has for
us. He has kept it a mystery or secret since the foundations of the
world until he revealed it to Paul the apostle so that he could tell us
about it!
Either God's Word is a lie or man has
missed something very important in understanding how God is dealing with him
today!
Since God's dealings with mankind has
changed, so have some very important issues that we are all familiar
with changed! The one major "change" issue among many is prayer. Not so much
how we pray but more importantly what we expect form God when we do!
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Today's World News
Rome
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Our Blessings In Christ,
to name but a few!
*Therefore being
justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ
*By whom also we have
access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in
the hope of the glory of God.
*But we glory in
tribulations also knowing that these tribulations work patience
and patience experience and experience hope
*And hope makes
us not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our
hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
*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 -
Romans 5: 1-5; 8,9
How Should We
Pray? (continued)
Let me explain. If you are like me, you would read the
bible, study it, but somehow gloss over important changes in how God has
dealt with mankind over the last 6,000 years of his existence. Worse,
when I began attending a local
 bible
church that mixed law and grace, it only reinforced my self-afflicted
beliefs. When we read and study the bible, it is essential
that we understand who God is addressing and in what
contextual relevance. An
obvious example is the law and it's relevance in the life of believers
today. As members of the Body of Christ, we do not sacrifice animals in
our back yards as we now trust in the living God for the
fulfillment of that requirement; Jesus Christ! The Old Testament
typified a soon coming Savior friends. Read the book of
Hebrews to find out
more! Another example is the flood which ushered in a new
set of dispensed instructions from God to man also known as a
dispensation. After failing the dispensings of Conscience in
the Garden of Eden and Innocence resulting in the flood, God gave
mankind another chance to respond to his loving-kindness by allowing man
to govern himself (Human Government) under the principles and direction
of God! He then gave the rainbow as a covenant to Noah, the planet's
ambassador for man since all perished in the event. The point is,
whenever it rains, we do not worry any longer about a world-wide event.
We do not look for an ark for we know that God has since changed how
He deals with man. In a similar fashion, God
has changed how He deals with us concerning prayer and believe me, we
were not short changed in any way!
Romans 3:21
- But now the righteousness of God without
the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
Romans 7:6
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But
now we are delivered from the law,
that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of
spirit, and not [in] the oldness of the letter.
You may be asking yourself; "What does
this have to do with prayer during a hurricane?"
Well, getting back to our passage in Mark
4....we know for a certainty that Jesus could control the weather and
proved so! So why didn't He stop that hurricane in New Orleans friends?
Why doesn't He stop the tornadoes across the Midwest? He can friends,
but contrary to all the faith healers on television, He is simply not
working miracles today.
Folks, please remember that mankind has
proven time and time again that when God works directly with him or
reveals himself through miracles, man still rebel's! One of the
many examples of this was 4,000 years ago. As Moses was receiving the
commandments from God, man was already making and worshipping
a golden calf! The entire Old Testament is about God revealing
Himself to man through signs, wonders and healings. In fact, one of
God's titles in the Old Testament is "The Deliverer". However, the
biggest miracle of regeneration, life and union with God through Christ
Jesus is still being rejected by man. The world would rather
have its fleshly desires appealed to through The Adversary by
those false teachers, false religions and worldly systems that promote
material wealth and artificial, temporary, happiness apart from Jesus
Christ. After all (it is commonly believed) if it makes me feel good
then it must be right. Mainstream, Fundamental, Christianity has fallen
into the same trap by measuring the spirituality of a believer based on
the success he or she has in their lives. It is believed that God will
"bless" them as a token of their obedience. If they are "fervent" in
prayer, then God will change His mind. This belief turns God into a
"genie in the sky".
Rather He has given us something
better; His grace to persevere in times of peril and in times of
trouble!
Be careful
for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ
Jesus. - Philippians 4:6,7
If you or someone you know was victimized
by that tragic storm over the summer or are victimized by the "storms"
of life, do not be discouraged! Our prayer should be that God changes
our mind in our response to difficult events that are going to affect
every person in one way or another during their life. Do not be
persuaded by false teachers who try to measure your spirituality based
upon the events of life, both good and bad. Know that despite the most
horrible of times as a child of God we are in Christ! His great love for
us has not changed (Romans 8), our position in Him has not
changed and the most growth we will ever experience in our walk as
believers will be during these most difficult of times. As scripture
says, we are to tell God everything and let all our requests be made
known unto Him! The result: whatsoever you pray for you shall receive??
NO!!...BETTER!!...The peace of God, which passes all understanding,
shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus! |
COFFEE CORNER
The real meaning of the impending
perilous times
and last days of 2 Timothy! - Part V
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their
own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to
parents, unthankful, unholy,
Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent,
fierce, despisers of those that are good,
Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of
God; Having a form of godliness,
but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses,
and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers
lusts, Ever learning, and never
able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the
truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.
But they shall proceed no
further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as their's also
was. But thou hast fully known
my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity,
patience, Persecutions,
afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what
persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live
godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and
worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been
assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy
scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through
faith which is in Christ Jesus.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
That the man of God may be
perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.-
2 Timothy 3:1-17
As we continue part five, please remember the phrase "last days" means
the last days for the context of the time discussed. The "last
days" of Noah's time are different than the "last days" spoken of by
Peter and so on! Here in Timothy, Paul's "last days" are "to"
us and he is describing what we can expect during the final days
of this wonderful age of grace that God has dispensed so generously!
During our last article on this issue, we
fully covered the error of Jannes and Jambres and how despite the
evidenced power of God, they foolishly attempted to usurp His greatness
and were found unapproved! In like fashion, "these men" of reprobate minds
and similar to the Old Testament magicians,
will not advance themselves any further. I find it interesting how Paul
chooses the Greek word "prokopto" to describe how "they" shall
proceed. He basically says these who would promote, advance or proceed
themselves will go no further! How true this is friends as my experience
has been that on many occasions church leaders are more interested in
promoting their own agenda rather than the doctrine of God. In the
hope of advancing or promoting themselves above those around them,
leaders often mistakenly believe that God has given them a higher plane
than others! Of course no one would admit that, but secretly our church
hierarchies support that belief since it is much easier to follow a man
than to study the word of God for yourself.
Paul says that their madness or folly will
be made known to all men. To be honest with you that may or may not
happen during our lifetime but eventually scripture says that all will
know this folly. Friends, I am not looking forward to those members of
Christ's Body who will have to stand before the Lord Jesus and tell Him
why they trod over His magnificent grace losing rewards in the process. It is
my prayer that those who reject the glorious message of the grace of God
will come to an understanding of this wonderful mystery before
that time. I have always felt that if their folly was revealed prior
to their home-going then maybe they would be more receptive to
discussing the distinctiveness of Paul's message during their time of
embarrassment since pride is the major obstacle.
In verse 10, The apostle
continues to instruct Timothy by reminding him about the fact that the
young pastor is fully aware of his gospel! The phrase "hast
fully known" literally means that not only does Timothy know what
Paul preached but was an eyewitness companion of the apostle of the
Gentiles. Paul's concern for Timothy was as a loving father to his son
friends. In chapter 1, Paul sympathizes with Timothy realizing
that things had gotten so bad it had brought the young pastor to tears.
By chapter 4, Paul describes the account of nearly all of his
companions leaving him and that only a few remained! I am truly amazed
that God's grace has withstood man's failure to reach me in my pride and
rebellion and is still wonderfully available to all those who would just
simply believe!
Paul's conduct validated his ministry as
well beloved. In addition, his purpose was made evident along with "the
faith" and how it pertained to his distinctive ministry as he received
it from Jesus Christ. Paul's patience, endurance, constancy,
steadfastness, perseverance (longsuffering) are unprecedented! His
charity was plain before men as I am sure he felt the guilt of the
destruction of lives prior to his conversion and he was now
motivated by what the risen, glorified Christ told him! His mention of
patience to Timothy at the end of verse 10 has more to do with his
steadfastness during a time where most men rejected his authenticity.
His persecutions were made clear to all men as well as Timothy. Paul had
nothing on this earth to gain and said himself that he counted all
things as dung for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ!
Stay tuned for Part VI....
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