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Faith and Tragedy
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Sep 2, 2009 12:07 am
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Faith and Tragedy
“Although the fig tree shall not blossom...the flock shall be cut off from the fold...yet I will rejoice” Habakkuk 3:17-18
FAITH will not purchase for the Christian immunity from the sorrows and tragedies of life. It will , however, empower him to triumph in them. Scripture and experience unite to teach that tragedy strikes in the life of just and unjust alike. There is no respect of person. How else explain the stark tragedy of the cross? Here was the ultimate of the Son of God in His Father’s love. In the darkness of Golgotha two momentous utterances affirmed His unwavering trust. ”My God, my God, why didst thou forsake me? ”and” Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” Even in the hour of dereliction He claimed God as His Father. Knowledge had begotten trust.
In the dawn of human history the most upright man of his day was beset by tragedy upon tragedy. Job was denuded of flocks and herds, sons and daughters, servants and wealth. He lost his health and even the supporting confidence of his wife. And his reaction ? ”Though he slay me yet will I trust in him” (13:15).
Stationed on his watchtower, the prophet Habakkuk was perplexed by unanswered prayer and an apparently inactive Providence. The affliction of the righteous and the prosperity of the evil-doer confused him-until he received a word from the Lord,” The righteous shall live by his faith”(2:4).With this assurance he met stark tragedy-no blossoms on the fig tree, no fruit on the vine; barren olive tees and parched fields; folds without flocks and stalls without herds. The whole economy of the nation foundered. And the answer of faith ? ” Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my survive tragedy and heartbreak.
-J. Oswald Sanders
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Facets of Faith
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Jul 28, 2009 11:52 pm
Mood: Praising God,
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Facets of Faith
FAITH is not merely an act, but a series of acts. It is a maintained attitude of that heart, an unquestioned obedience.
I would rather be among the great be among the great believers than among the great thinkers.
Faith is the soul’s perpetual Amen to God’s everlasting Yea.
Faith’s chef occupation is the obtaining of the promises of God.
Faith is ever discovering what God is able to do in the face of all opposition and difficulties.
The oftener we act in faith, the easier it becomes to trust God.
Doubt is a symptom of soul disease. When the soul disease. When the soul is healthy, we believe without thinking of faith.
They heroes of faith staked everything on God, and history proved them right
Faith is willing to accept what it cannot understand.
Faith does not believe that what it cannot understand.
Faith is the assent of the mind and the consent of the side of the heart.
Faith is not an emotion, although emotion may be the result of faith.
To doubt any word God has spoken is to cripple faith.
Faith is neither encouraged nor discouraged by circumstances.
Faith is centrifugal in its effects-from the faith of those who preach to the faith of those who believe.
Faith transforms a way of thinking into a mode of living, creed into character, theory into life.
Unbelief is represented in Scripture as the one and only thing that exasperated God.
To those who are able to undergo the strain of faith, God allows all sorts of disappointments, the death of bright hopes, the removing of earthly friendships...to compel the soul to house itself in Him alone.
The measure of our abiding in strength will be the measure of our confiding in the truth and fidelity of God.
- J. Oswald Sanders
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Faith in faith
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Jul 20, 2009 1:13 am
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Faith in our Faith
“Have faith in God”Mark11:22
Is it possible that we are striving to have faith in our faith rather than to have faith in our God? Think that through. Since faith is well pleasing to God, it is only to be expected that His adversary and ours will do all in his power to short circuit it and deflect it from is true objective-God. ’Have faith in God ” is the Divine imperative.
When confronted with an incredibly wonderful promise in God’s Word, we are sometimes daunted. ”But I haven’t the faith to believe for that” we exclaim. ”My faith is not strong enough. I doubt if I have the right sort of faith. ”To which the pertinent reply is, ”In whom do you not have the faith to believe ?’ for faith always reposes in Someone. Is it that you are placing reliance on your faith to bring the promised blessing, or are you fixing your faith on Him who has promised?
Our own faith is a poor broken reed on which to lean. If it is in this we are trusting, small wonder that we receive nothing. It is faith in God to which He responds, not faith in our faith. If we are worrying whether our faith is right in quantity or sufficient in quantity, Satan has successfully deflected it from its objective, And if we keep looking at our faith, we will soon have nothing at will to look. All faith is of the right sort which is directed towards God, and sufficient in quantity though it be as a tiny mustard seeds, if it is living. Faith’s function is simply to link us with trustworthy God who has promised. But there is a seeming faith to which God is silent-faith which is focused on our own faith. It is God who gives the blessing.
- J. Oswald Sanders
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Faith as Appropriation
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Jul 13, 2009 12:32 am
Mood: Praising God,
221 Views
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Faith as Appropriation
“As many as received him...them that believe on his name” John 1:12
In John’s gospel, ”believe” occurs about fifty times. In every case “receive” can be substituted with equal good sense. To appropriate is to receive, to take to oneself as one’s own. The central verse of the Bible is reputed to be Psalm 81:10:”Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it. ”It pictures a nest of little birds with mouth wide and I will fill it. ”It pictures a nest of little birds with mouths stretched open beyond belief. Their attitude is the expectation of faith. Nor does the mother-bird disappoint it. The fledgling’s sole responsibility is to close its mouth on the mother’s provision.
The holiest saint has no spiritual resources than those imparted to us in Christ. The vast discrepancy in our experience stems from the fact that the great saint appropriates more of what God has bestowed than we do. He lays hold of God’s revealed facts and turns them into factors of his own experience. The wonderful father in Luke 15 divided his property between his two sons. ’He divided unto them his living”(15:12).Despite his glaring faults ,the prodigal at least did his share. Not so the elder brother. He even accused his father of not giving him a kid. The deeply hurt father responded, ”Son, all that I have is thine. ”The difference was not in bestowal but in appropriation.
It seems easier to appropriate tangible things than spiritual blessings. But are we not constantly appropriating intangible things than spiritual blessings. But are we not constantly appropriating intangible things, but it is not enjoyed until it is appropriated and reciprocated. Forgiveness may be freely bestowed, but release comes only when it is believed and accepted. The unvarying spiritual principle is, ”According to your faith-appropriation-be it unto you.”
- J. Oswald Sanders
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Ephesians 3:1-6
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Jul 8, 2009 12:57 am
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Ephesians 3:1-6
1 for this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles-
2 Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, 3 that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. 4 In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. 6 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.
Comments by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
1. The Gentiles, Paul says, are to be fellow-heirs with the Jews, which means that all the promises God had made to the Jewish people in the Old Testament are now open to the Gentiles. The Jew is an equal sharer with the Gentile, and the Gentile with the Jew. There is no difference. They are both fellow-heirs, they have the same place, as it were, in God’s will; they are to receive the same benefits. This refers to the new covenant that God had promised. He had said that He was going to make a new covenant, not like the old one that He had made when He brought them out of Egypt. It is, “Your sins and your iniquities will I remember no more,” “ I will be to you a God, and you shall be to me a people.” But this is no longer for the Jews only, but for Gentiles also; it is for you and for me. We are in God’s will, we are heirs together with the Jews, the old nation, the ancient people of God, in this amazing promise of the benefits of the new covenant.
2. The second term is ‘Fellow-members of the body. So the Apostle adds to ‘fellow-heirs’ ‘fellow-members of the body.’ This is what demolishes all attempts to perpetuate a distinction between the Jew and the Gentile. It is not, says Paul, that the Gentiles are simply added on somewhat loosely; they are compacted together as joints in the same body, and no one joint is more ‘in the body’ than any other joint. There is no distinction any longer; there is no superiority and no inferiority.
3. The Apostle goes even a step further, and says that we are ‘fellow-partakers together of the promise.’ In Galatians 3:14 we read: “That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.’ This is called ‘the promise of the Father,’ and that runs as a golden thread through the Old Testament. It is what happened on the Day of Pentecost which Peter explained thus: ‘This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel.’ The promise of the Father is the shedding forth of the Spirit, and all the results that follow from it. You are fellow-partakers of the promise, says Paul to the Ephesians, you have received the fullness of the Spirit exactly as the Jew has done. But I believe that the words have a further meaning. Another great promise was the promise of the resurrection and of the glorious kingdom of the Son of God. The promise is that a Messiah would come who would even conquer death and the grave and bring life and immortality to light. It is the promise of the resurrection, the final resurrection, and the coming of the glorious Kingdom, ‘the new heavens and the new earth wherein dwells righteousness.’
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The Venture of Faith
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Jul 6, 2009 12:02 am
259 Views
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The Venture of Faith
“By faith Abraham went out, not knowing whither he went” Hebrews 11:8
A step of faith always involves the acceptance of a calculated risk. It is not blind credulity but calm confidence. The heroes of faith had their portraits hung in God’s Hall of Fame because they were prepared to stake everything on His faithfulness. Had there been n element of risk in their exploits, faith would have been unnecessary.
A party touring the Mint in Washington came to the process where molten metal was being poured into the coin moulds. The workman said to one man, ”Sir, I suppose you know that if you dip your hand into a bucket of water I could pour the molten metal into your hand and it would not burn? Perhaps you would care to try it?” ”No, thank you ”said he,” I will take your word for it.
Presently his wife came along and the workman repeated his offer. ”Certainly, certainly,” she said. When the experiment was safely concluded, the workman turned to the husband: Sir, I suppose you would say you believed me, but your wife trusted. ”Hers was a faith prepared to venture on the veracity of the workman.
Abraham ventured all on the faithfulness of God. ”He went out, not knowing whither he went. ”Faith does not demand to know where it is being led. He prepared to sacrifice Isaac, not knowing why God asked it of him and not knowing how God could redeem His promise. His venturing faith made him father of the faithful.
Three young men faced incineration in a fiery furnace for their faithfulness to God. They ventured all on His trustworthiness. ”Our God is able to deliver us...but if not...we will not worship the golden image”(Daniel3:17-1 .Their faith found its reward in companionship with the Son of God in the fiery furnace.
-J. Oswald Sanders
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Growing Faith
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Jul 1, 2009 11:50 pm
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Growing Faith
“Your faith growth exceedingly”2Thessalonians1:3
JESUS commanded His disciples to forgive a repentant brother though he had sinned against them seven times in a single day. Their bewildered response was, ”Lord, increase our faith. ”But was their need not increased love rather than increased faith? No; their diagnosis of their own need as in the main correct, for it stemmed from a consciousness of their inability to fulfil the moral requirements Jesus had enunciated in the previous verses. Only faith would bring the enabling.
Yet it was not wholly correct, for in His reply Jesus instructed them that their need was not so much of additional faith as of vital faith. The tiniest mustard seed enshrines a germ of life. It was a question of quality, not quantity. Theirs must be a growing faith, for life spontaneously issues on growth. In writing to the Christians at Thessalonica Paul said, ”We are bound to thank God always for you, for your faith growth exceedingly”(2Thessalonians1:3).The depth and progress of our spiritual development depends on the growth of our faith.
Growth is automatic when the conditions are fulfilled. Faith feeds on the promises of God. The presence of God is the atmosphere of faith, but it will remain in the malarial swamps of man’s question marks. It is strengthened by the atmosphere of faith, but it will remain stagnant in the malarial swamps of man’s question marks. It increases through response to the requirements and challenges of His Word. Contrary to popular belief it is not always fostered by great encouragements and swift answer to prayer. It thrives more in the midst of difficulties and conflicts when all secondary support has been removed.
Faith grows most when we believe our beliefs and doubt our doubts. The surest way to arrest its growth is to cherish our doubts and doubt our beliefs. And faith always involves an act of the will.
-J. Oswald Sanders
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Revival - please pray for revival in Thailand!
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Jun 30, 2009 11:12 pm
274 Views
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Revival (Part 1)
Duncan Campbell described revival as ‘a community saturated with God.’
“Revival is a church word; it has to do with God’s people. You cannot revive the world; the world is dead in trespasses and sins; you cannot revive a corpse. But you can revitalize where there is life.” – Douglas Brown 1922
Evan Roberts made the same claim in Wales in 1904: “My mission is first to the churches. When the churches are aroused to their duty, men of the world will be swept into the Kingdom. A whole church on its knees is irresistible.”
“A true revival begins always with those who are believers in New Testament Christianity and as Edwin Orr wisely reminds us, ‘more particularly those who had enjoyed the New Testament experience of conversion and regeneration.’ Revival is therefore an evangelical experience; it is an ‘evangelical awakening.’
In searching for a biblical definition and description of revival it is commonplace to use the account in Acts chapter 2. However, we must not forget that in some ways the story of the Holy Spirit coming to the early Christians at Pentecost is unique. This is not to say that it has nothing to teach on the subject; on the contrary, there has never been a community so saturated with God as those 120 Christians in the upper room. But the uniqueness of that story is that they did not start where the church finds itself today. Pentecost was not a reviving of what was dying, nor a cleansing of what had become polluted by the world. The disciples were not commanded to wait in Jerusalem until they received repentance or forgiveness or revival. There was only one thing the Christians had to wait for, and that was power to carry out their Lord’s command to go and witness to the world (Acts 1:. Revival is not primarily to give the church power, though it certainly does this, but to give it life. There is a world of difference. In one sense the church had no history before Pentecost. In Acts 2 the church was not restored to where it ought to have been and from where it had fallen, but it was the starting-point of the new covenant church. So the story of Acts will certainly describe the effects of a community ‘saturated with God,’ but it cannot tell us all we need to know on the subject.” – Brian H. Edwards
“A true Holy Spirit revival is a remarkable increase in the spiritual life of a large number of God’s people, accompanied by an awesome awareness of the presence of God, intensity of prayer and praise, a deep conviction of sin with a passionate longing for holiness and unusual effectiveness in evangelism, leading to the salvation of many unbelievers.
Revival is remarkable, large, effective and, above all, it is something that God brings about. It is quite impossible for man to create revival. Though men may prepare and pray for it, revival is the work of the sovereign God, not primarily for the benefit of the people, but for HIS OWN HONOUR AND GLORY. Commenting upon Acts 2:1, ‘when the day of Pentecost came,’ Arthur Wallis claims: ‘Every genuine revival is clearly stamped with the hallmark of divine sovereignty, and in no way is this more clearly seen than in the time factor. The moment for that first outpouring of the Spirit was not determined by the believers in the upper room but by God, who had foreshadowed it centuries before in those wonderful types in the Old Testament.’”
- Brian H. Edwards from the book “Revival a people saturated with God”
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Faith and Unbelief
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Jun 29, 2009 1:21 am
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Faith and Unbelief
“Take heed lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief”Hebrews3:12
The true nature of faith can be learned from its antitheses. Unbelief is the absence of faith. Disbelief is the denial of truth. Unbelief does not necessarily express itself in blatant disbelief. It can be seen in failure to act as though a thing is true, but the end effect is the same. God is dishonoured and the promised good is forfeited.
Omnipotence is shackled in the presence of unbelief. ”He could there do no mighty work...and he marveled because of their unbelief”(Mark 6:5,6).Note the “could not,” spoken of Incarnate Deity. This incident lends credibility to John Wesley’s assertion, ”God does nothing except in answer to believing prayer.” Jesus was ever so willing to perform acts of mercy among these people, but the sole channel through which His healing power could flow was blocked. Our unbelief is often responsible for the seeming inactivity of God.
Fear is spawned from unbelief. ”Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?” asked the Lord(Mark 4:40)Perfect love casts out fear, but can there be perfect love without complete confidence? Fear cannot be exorcised by an act of the will, but it can be banished by unwavering confidence in the love and power of God.
Spiritual power is short-circuited by unbelief. ”Why could not we cast him out?...Because of your unbelief”(Matthew 17:19,20). They had been invested with authority over all the power of the enemy, but now in the presence of satanic power they were important. Why? Because in some subtle way, prayerlessness had induced them t have faith in themselves instead of in their wonder-working Lord. Divine power flows only through the reticulating system of faith.
“Take heed lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief”(Hebrews3:12).
-J. Oswald Sanders
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