Faith for Today

Fred R. Coulter—October 27, 2007

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• What does true faith cause you to do?
• How will true faith help you in the end–times?

Last night one of the originals of Christian Biblical Church of God pass away—Martha Anderson. She hasn't been able to attend for a number of years being housebound; she was 93-years-old. I thought about our original group, seven plus Delores and me.

In talking to Judy, who took care of her mother for a number of years, and knowing what she was going through and everything, we encouraged her. She encouraged her mother. They read the Scriptures about the purpose of life and where they're going and the resurrection and Sea of Glass and the glory and beauty that will be there.

In talking to her this morning when she called at about 7 o'clock and informed that her mother had passed. I mentioned to Delores that it seems as though that a time in which many people pass is between one and four in the morning.

She mentioned that she had entered into her rest on the Sabbath Day, which is a day of rest. She said that her father also died on the Sabbath in church services. Martha survived many years beyond him and was very faithful. So, she fulfilled what it says in the Scriptures: The one who endures to the end, the same shall be saved!

It is evident when see many of the church groups, however, it's beginning to change. We're beginning to have younger people come, and some children come, so that is good. But we are basically an older church, which is a testimony to the faithfulness of the people who have been with God for a long time.

With the current state of the Church of God, when people are searching for the Truth—because so much error has crept in some of the Churches of God, that many people are searching out those who really stick to the Scriptures. We get letters and e-mails from people who are doing that, and checking things out and they are happy to see that at least there are some who are preaching the Truth.

We will see this take place over and over again, Isaiah 57:1: "The righteous perish… [God's harvest keeps taking place] …and no one lays it to heart… [those in the world don't consider it; we do, we consider it] …and merciful men are taken away; none considering that the righteous are taken away from the evil to come."

God is going to spare many of those who are in the upper brackets of being senior citizens. Delores and I never thought that we would be as old as we are now before the return of Christ.

As in the case of Martha, and many, they just go to sleep, and many times in the early hours of the morning.

Verse 2: "He shall enter into peace; they shall rest in their beds… [your final resting place where you're going to be] …each one who walked in his uprightness"—which is according the uprightness and faith of the individual!

Let's look at something that we all have to look forward to. The next minute to being awakened out of the sleep is going to be a spectacular thing. You're going to awaken out of your sleep and an angel is going to say, 'Come on, take hold, here we go!' and all of those who died in Christ, being resurrected, are going to be carried by the angels up to the Sea of Glass.

This is why so many of the Churches of the world—even though they mouth about the resurrection—really don't believe it because they say, 'all souls go to heaven.'

But the truth is—and I think even the Churches of God and us until just recently—have not fully understood the magnitude and the power of the return of Christ. Hence, when Pentecost comes, and the resurrection, it's going to be an awesome thing, indeed! But here's what we look forward to, and you can tie this in with Rev. 22.

Psalm 17:15: "As for me, I will behold Your face in righteousness…"—Rev. 22 says that we will see God face-to-face. For all of those of you who don't know the Truth about the trinity:

Revelation 21:22: "And I saw no temple in it; for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it."

So, if the Holy Spirit is a person, where is He? It's not there, because the Holy Spirit is the power of God.

Revelation 22:4: "And they shall see His face; and His name is in their foreheads."

Psalm 17:15: "…I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Your likeness."

We are going to be the spirit sons and daughters of God, and we are going to be in the same level as existence as God, but obviously not in power.

But we will be in the likeness of God. That's why in the sermon: Why Did God Make Man the Way That He Did? So that He could become human and we could be part of the God Family!

That's why when you come to Gen. 2 it's such an insidious thing that Satan did. He said that 'if you eat of this tree—The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil—you will becomes as gods to decide good and evil.' Therefore, those who don't understand what we've just covered, they read in their Bibles that if anyone says that you're going to become as God the Father and Jesus Christ, then that's heresy! They believe in the immortality of the soul. The Catholics believe in the beatific vision, where you're kind of looking like a glowing glob for all eternity!

The sin was that Satan convinced them that they could become God in the flesh! That was the sin! Not that God's ultimate plan is that we would become as God is, because that's God's ultimate plan.

When you go through the Bible and put it all together, even in the book of Psalms, it talks about when he awakes—that is from the sleep of death—with God's likeness.

That's what the sin was, and isn't that exactly the way it is today with human beings? They think they're better than God. They reject the Word of God.

What is that they're trying to do with all this modern technology? Make man as God!

Psa. 16 talks about the resurrection of Jesus. So, the resurrection of Jesus must come first, before the resurrection of the rest of us. That doesn't take place until Christ returns (1-Cor. 15).

Psalm 16:8: "I have set the LORD always before me…. [that's the goal of always being focused on the plan of God and His way] …Because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore, My heart is glad, and My glory rejoices; My flesh also shall rest in safety… [these are prophecies of the words of Christ] …for You will not abandon My soul to the grave; neither will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You will make known to Me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy. At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore" (vs 8-11).

Peter made it very clear that this was referring to Christ and His resurrection, and not to David, because he says that 'David's sepulcher is with us to this day' (Acts 2). This is the hope that we look forward to, and this is the thing: whenever someone dies in the faith, endures to the end…

Yes, we hate to see people die and go, but that's all in the plan of God, because God says, 'There's a time to be born and a there's a time to die.' When we come to death, it is, in many cases, not easy. Some cases are easier than others.

1-Cor. 15 talks about the resurrection, and this is why we believe what we believe, and do what we do. What kind of faith do we need to endure to the end?

1-Corinthians 15:20: "But now Christ has been raised from the dead… [tie in Psa. 16] …He has become the Firstfruit of those who have fallen asleep." Death is like being asleep!

When you are asleep you don't know anything. Ecclesiastes says that 'the dead can't praise you and the dead know nothing'!

Verse 21: "For since by man came death… [tie in Rom. 5:12] …by Man also came the resurrection of the dead…. [that's why Jesus became a man]…For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive" (vs 21-22).

What does that do for other religions of the world that don't believe in Christ? You have to wait your turn for the second resurrection! People get all breathless and angry about that. 'How could God do that?' Is anything impossible for God? No! He can do whatever He pleases! If the Bible shows—as it does in Rev. 20—the rest of the dead live not again until the thousand years are over. When are the rest of the dead going to live? When the thousand years are over!

So, you're not going to have eternal life in any way except through Jesus Christ. That's why Jesus said:

John 14:6: "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life…" What we need to focus in on is what is the Truth and the way of Christ to obtain eternal life, because that's the only way that we're going to be made alive!

Verse 23: "But each in his own order… [Paul is talking about the different categories of people] …Christ the Firstfruit; then those who are Christ's at His coming."

It's very simple, it doesn't say anywhere in the Bible that when you die your immortal soul goes to heaven. The Catholics would rather have it go to purgatory, because that's a good source of income.

When you believe in the immortality of the soul, you really don't believe in the return of Christ the way the Bible teaches. That's why if you go to a Baptist funeral, which Ben Ambrose has written some good things on that, because he's confronted the Baptist preachers on it. He's asked them:

If they're up in heaven looking down at us right now, how can you justify that with a resurrection at the return of Christ?

They're speechless! The reason they're speechless is because they realize it, but they are stuck in the paradigm of hard-shell Baptistism. It would be unthinkable to lose your job for the Truth.

Then it jumps way ahead at this point, clear to the end; v 24: "Afterwards the end comes, when He shall have delivered up the Kingdom to Him Who is God and Father, when He shall have put an end to all rule and all authority and power…. [the second death] …For it is ordained that He reign until He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death" (vs 24-26).

What does it say about the righteous? That the wicked shall be as ashes under their feet (Mal. 4).

Verse 27: "For He has put all things in subjection under His feet…."

The magnificent Truth of the Bible is that there is a unity of Scripture between the Old and the New Testament, when you really understand it, and there is no conflict!

"…But when it is said that all things have been put in subjection, it is clearly evident that it does not include Him Who… [God the Father] …put all things in subjection under Him [Christ]. But when He [Christ] has put all things in subjection to Him [the Father], then shall the Son Himself also be subject to Him Who put all things in subjection to Him, so that God may be all in all" (vs 27-28). That goes right back to John 17, 'That they all may be one as You, Father, and I are one!'

This is why death, at anytime, is not pleasant. You can go back and look at albums of pictures and see pictures today of when babies are born and as they're growing up. They get into adolescence and on into the teens and adulthood. Then they marry and have their own families and here comes mother and father aging behind them. Death becomes very hard to take from the point of view that human beings just get old, creaky, and wear out. That's the way it is, because that's the result of the law of sin and death that we all have in us.

We wished it were not so, and that's why I think people cling to the immortality of the soul. But nevertheless:

Verse 42: "So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption…"

Doesn't that happen to every human being when they come to the end? Yes! It's not pleasant, but:

"…it is raised in incorruption" (v 42). I shall be satisfied when I see You (Christ) as You are and have Your likeness!

Verse 43: "It is sown in dishonor…" Weakness and everything that takes place! All of the many times when you come toward the end of life and you have all of the nursing things that need to be taking place; all of the help and feeding and all the attenuating services that need to be done to help the person because of the process of elimination that's not regular anymore, and things don't function the way that they should. It is really a difficult proposition. That's what "…is sown in dishonor…"

"…it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body" (vs 43-44).

You are walking around in your own flesh, with an absolute guarantee that since you have a physical body, you will—if you endure to the end and are faithful—have a spiritual body. The very fact that you have your existence in the body that you are in now—the physical body—is a guarantee that you're going to have a spiritual body. There's the promise right there!

Verse 45: Accordingly, it is written, 'The first man, Adam, became a living soul; the last Adam became an ever-living Spirit.' However, the spiritual was not first…" (vs 45-46).

If you understand some of the doctrines of some of the religions of the world—which are pagan—they basically boil down to that we existed as spirits up in the stars before we became human. If that is so, then the spirit came first not the physical. So, you know that's an absolute lie!

"…but the natural—then the spiritual. The first man is of the earth—made of dust. The second Man is the Lord from heaven. As is the one made of dust, so also are all those who are made of dust…" (vs 46-48)—and that's what we are!

"…and as is the heavenly One, so also are all those who are heavenly…. [here's a promise from God, and that's why we need to have faith in God at all times]: …And as we have borne the image of the one made of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly One" (vs 48-49). Tie in Gen. 1:26, that God made us after His image and after His likeness!

So, you can see the unity of Scripture throughout the Bible!

Verse 50: "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God…"

Let's just knock another doctrine in the head: The Catholic Church says that 'the Roman Catholic Church is the Kingdom of God on earth.'

• Who runs it? The pope!
• Is he flesh and blood? Yes!
• Are all of those in the Roman Catholic Church flesh and blood? Yes!

Which means that cannot be the Kingdom of God, but they say that it is because they look at the phrases in Matthew where it says, 'the Kingdom of Heaven…' And they say that the Kingdom of Heaven is where souls go when you die."…flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God…"

"…nor does corruption inherit incorruption…. [it has to be a complete change] …Behold, I show you a mystery: we shall not all fall asleep, but we shall all be changed" (vs 50-51). This is before Paul understood  out how far off the second coming of Christ was!

Verse 52: "In an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." That's what we're looking forward to!

Verse 53: "For this corruptible must put on incorruptibility, and this mortal must put on immortality…. [When?] …Now, when this corruptible shall have put on incorruptibility, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: 'Death is swallowed up in victory'" (vs 53-54). Let's see that promise carried out!

Can you imagine what this world is going to think when all of this takes place? I think we all need to have a greater and more expansive vision and understanding of the return of Christ.

Revelation 21:1: "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice from heaven say, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men; and He shall dwell with them, and they shall be His people… [perfected people, spirit beings] …and God Himself shall be with them and be their God. And God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall not be anymore death, or sorrow, or crying; neither shall there be any more pain, because the former things have passed away.'" (vs 1-4).

Verse 5: "And He Who sits on the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new.' Then He said to me, 'Write… [this is why we have the written Word of God] …for these words are true and faithful.'" This is where we need to focus in when things like this happen!

Verse 6: "And He said to me, 'It is done…." Just like we come to the end of our lives and die and are buried and put in the grave and await the resurrection. Just like everything we do on this earth has a beginning and an ending, there is also a beginning and ending to human life.

"'…I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the one who thirsts, I will give freely of the fountain of the Water of Life. The one who overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son'" (vs 6-7).

That's the plan of God! This is why we need to have the true faith of God! Let's shift over into what kind of faith we need in the end-time. In Luke 18 is a question that Jesus asked, and I think it's quite apropos. Talking about a little widow who couldn't get any justice, and finally, as she was persistent, the judge said that he would.

Luke 18:7: "And shall not God execute vengeance for His elect, who cry out to Him day and night, and patiently watch over them?…. [God is doing what He needed to do] …I tell you that He will execute vengeance for them speedily…." (vs 7-8). With God, it may not necessarily be instantaneous in the way of human thought. But He'll take care of it!

"…Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, shall He find the true faith on the earth?" (v 8).

It's very interesting, because faith is an important thing. Because there is the definite article and it is 'ho pistos' the faith, it can mean three things:

• the true doctrines of faith
• true spiritual faith
• true Christian character based upon faith

As we look at it today, that's quite a question—shall He find the true faith on the earth?—when you look at the world and even some of the Churches of God.

• the Greek noun for faith is 'pistis'
• the Greek word for faithful is 'pistos'
• closely related to this
• the verb belief has the mean to faithize, which means to act upon what you believe

True faith requires that you act upon what you believe! A dead faith is to believe but do nothing!

Example of dead faith in relationship to one little thing that God says in keeping the Sabbath: There was a man  that I had a conversation with, and he found out that I was a minister and asked what church. I said that it's a small church and we keep the Sabbath, which is the seventh day.

He said, 'Well, I go to church on Sunday.' I said, 'You know that's really not the Sabbath, don't you?' He said, 'Yes, but God knows my heart.'

If you really know and believe that the Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, you must act upon it!

I talked to a woman one time who said that she went to this church on Sunday, every Sunday for 20 years, and almost every Sunday she asked herself, 'Why don't we keep the Sabbath?'

Finally, she found out about the Christian Biblical Church of God and now she keeps the Sabbath. But that's the way that too many people believe. They think they are safe because they believe that there is a God.

What do you do when you find that you're lacking in faith? You don't come to the knowledge of faith and have faith instantaneously, just by saying 'believe in Jesus and you are saved and the grace of God covers your sins.' Those are true statements, but let's also understand that those are also just statements. If you never go beyond that beginning, it's like getting into a race at the starting line of the race and the gun goes off and everybody starts running down to the finish line and you're standing there saying, 'Well, I'm saved by grace, everything is done and I don't have to do a thing.'

Then you immediately run over to the finish line and say, 'Give me my medal, I came in first.' Doesn't work that way! Faith does not come instantly!

Mark 9—Jesus came back from the Mt. of Transfiguration with Peter, James and John, and some of the disciples were asked to cast a demon out of a man and they couldn't do it.

Mark 9:17: "Then one from the multitude said, 'Master, I brought my son who has a dumb spirit to You; for wherever it seizes him it dashes him down; and he foams and gnashes his teeth, and is withering away. And I spoke to Your disciples, in order that they might cast it out, but they did not have the power'" (vs 17-18).

That's also very interesting! So, if you don't have the true faith and you really don't believe, things don't happen.

Verse 19: "And He answered him, saying, 'O faithless generation!…. [talking to His disciples] …How long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.' Then they brought him to Him. But when the spirit saw Him, it immediately threw him into convulsions; and he fell down on the ground and began rolling about and foaming at the mouth. And He asked his father, 'How long a time has this demon been with him?' And he said, 'From childhood. For it often throws him both into the fire and into the water, that it might destroy him. But if You have the power to do anything, have compassion on us and help us'" (vs 19-22).

Verse 23—here is the lesson: "And Jesus said to him, 'If you can believe, all things are possible to the one who believes.' And the father of the little child cried out at once, saying with tears, 'Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief'" (vs 23-24).

In many cases this is where we need to start believing about God and Jesus Christ, and understanding the Scriptures, and so forth. We need to go to God and ask Him to help us!

If you ever have a doubt about anything, don't say to yourself that you shouldn't have this doubt. That's true, you shouldn't have it! But how do you get rid of it? I'll just push it out of my mind! I'll tell you what happens when you try to do that, it will always come back.

What you need to do is take whatever doubt that you have and just pick it up and place it right smack in the middle of the table and go through the Scriptures and disprove that doubt!

When you understand the Truth, then the Truth replaces the doubt and you can believe. It's not going to come back and haunt you.

Verse 25: "Then Jesus, seeing that the multitude was running together, rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, 'You deaf and dumb spirit, I command you to come out of him, and you are not allowed to go into him any more!' And after crying out and throwing him into severe convulsions, it came out; and he became as dead, so much so that many said, 'He is dead.' But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose" (vs 25-27)—and obviously gave him to his father!

Verse 28: "And when He came into a house, His disciples asked Him apart, 'Why were we not able to cast it out?' Then He said to them, 'This kind cannot be made to go out by anything except prayer and fasting'" (vs 28-29).

This is saying that you need a working relationship with God! Of course they learned that lesson, and that's for us also to learn.

James 2 is quite a chapter, and very easy to understand. When someone comes along to you and says that you shouldn't read the Bible, that you need a priest to interpret it.

• Really?
• Did God have the Bible written for the priests only?
• Is that true?
• Why would God judge you if it's only for the priests?

I would have to say, those priests better be careful, because they're not following the Bible either. The real reason they don't want you to read the Bible without a priest there to interpret it, is not because the Bible is hard to understand. There are some places that are, but there are a lot of places that are simple and easy to understand. You don't need a priest to interpret it for you! You can understand it because God made it understandable for the average man.

As a matter of fact, one of the most dedicated men in the history of Bible translations was William Tyndale. He was told by a fellow Catholic, 'That we better be without God's Laws and have the pope's laws, because then we can get along with people.'

William Tyndale said, 'If God err give me the time. I will make it so that the plowboy will understand more of the Word of God than the pope.' And Tyndale did, and that's why we call him the 'father of the English Bible.'

Now let's look at what true faith is to do for us, and let's begin with something easy to understand:

James 2:14: "My brethren, what good does it do, if anyone says that he has faith, and does not have works?…. [the truth is, we are to act upon our faith] …Is faith able to save him? Now then, if there be a brother or sister who is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace; be warmed and be filled,' and does not give to them the things necessary for the body, what good is it? In the same way also, faith, if it does not have works, is dead, by itself" (vs 14-17).

Isn't it interesting that in America, close to 80% of the people or more believe there is a God. But

• Do they act upon that faith?
• Do they have the true faith that leads them to the Truth of God when they act upon that faith?

To act upon the faith means that it must be reflected in your life!

(go to the next track)

Let's continue with faith, and we can list this many different ways:

• faith in the end-time
• faith to endure to the end
• living faith

James 2:18 (KJV): "Yea, a man may say, 'Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.'" That is an incorrect translation, though it is a true statement!

The proper translations really carries a lot. If you don't have faith, you don't have works. That's the true answer.

FV—"But someone is going to say, 'You have faith, and I have works.' My answer is: You prove your faith to me through your works…"—whatever you say you believe in!

• You say you believe in God, do you obey Him?
• You say you believe in the Truth, do you cling to the Truth?
• You say you believe that God cannot lie, do you believe His commandments?
• If you believe some of His commandment, why don't you believe all of His commandments?

"…and I will prove my faith to you through my works" (v 18)—because faith is going to result in action! Always!

Faith is based on belief, and if you truly believe that Jesus is the Son of God, or you truly believe that God exists, you're going to do something about it!

Now, James give this comparison, which is so true of the world; v 19: "Do you believe that God is one? You do well to believe this. Even the demons believe and tremble in fear"—because they have rejected the works of God required by angels! Then he gives some more examples:

To say, 'I believe there is a God' you just joined the ranks of the demons, which is different than an atheist who says they don't believe in God. So:

• IF you say that you believe in God, that there is a God, then you've taken one step away from the atheists!
• IFyou believe there is a God, then do you believe what He says, written in His Word?
• IF you believe that this is the Word of God—all of it, because you can't pick and choose—then you're in trouble!

Let's see what's going to happen to the demons. Satan and the demons, though they believe there is God, they know they have seen Him, they have suffered His punishment. Before they suffer His final punishment to come, they insist on their own way!

Revelation 20:10: "And the Devil, who deceived them, was cast into the Lake of Fire and brimstone…"—where the devil and all the demons will go, too.

Did their belief in God do them any good? No! So, to say that you believe there is a God does not do you any good unless you act upon that! If you believe that God is true and cannot lie, and that His Word is true, why do so many people pick and choose what they want out of the Bible and are unwilling to believe God? There is a distinct difference in believing there is a God and believing God! If you believe God, that means you're going to do what God says. If you believe there is a God, that doesn't mean you're going to do what God says. As Paul says, 'Faith without works is dead.'

James 2:20: "But are you willing to understand, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?…. [Are you willing to believe that?] …Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac, his own son, upon the altar?" (vs 20-21).

We're going to see in a little bit, every time it talks about faith, there are works that follow. Abraham had to believe God, and was willing to obey Him! We'll talk about that when we get Heb. 11 in just a bit.

Verse 22: "Do you not see that faith was working together with his works, and by works his faith was perfected?" Faith is something you grow in:

• you grow in grace
• you grow in knowledge
• you grow in faith

All of that comes from God! Perfected!

Verse 23: "And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, 'Now, Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness'; and he was called a friend of God."

Not let's see what James also writes about faith; James 1:1: "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes, which are in the dispersion: Greetings!"

If you're going to write a letter to someone, you're going to know where they are! If he says they were in dispersion, he knew where they were, otherwise why write a letter to them if he didn't know where they were?

Try sending a letter in the mail 'to anyone who may receive this' and see how the post office handles that. Just another little understanding about Israel and prophecy, and that they knew where the 12 tribes were during the days of the apostles.

Verse 2: "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you are beset by various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance" (vs 2-3).

If you can't endure the testing of your faith, you won't have any works and your faith is in vain because you don't believe.

Verse 4: "But let endurance have its perfect work, so that you may be perfect and complete, not lacking in anything." This is what we're talking about, that by works Abraham's faith was perfected!!

Verse 5: "However, if anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, Who gives to everyone freely and does not reproach the one who asks;and it shall be given to him." This applies to anything:

• wisdom
• understanding
• knowledge of the Scriptures
• repentance
• forgiveness
• grace

Verse 6: But let him ask in faith, not doubting… [we saw how to get rid of doubts in Mark 9] …at all because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven by the wind and tossed to and fro. Do not let that man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways" (vs 6-8).

The faith that comes from God is a gift of God, a gift of the Holy Spirit, which will cause us to act upon what we believe.

Let's just start with a simple one that everyone knows. Everyone who goes to church on Sunday knows what is the first day of the week. By the fact that you know what is the first day of the week, you also know what day is the seventh day of the week, which says that you know the Sabbath.

IF you believe God, not just in God, and IF you believe the Word of God, why don't you heed the commandment that says, 'Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it Holy'? IF you truly believe God and believe in God, and have faith in God, THEN you will keep the fourth commandment!

Heb. 11—the faith chapter. Let's see something very important with this, that everyone who is listed here, you know they're going to receive eternal life.

Hebrews 11:1: "Now, faith is the substance…"—meaning that it comes from God's Spirit! The King James says 'the evidence of or conviction,' but IF you have the faith of God that comes from the Holy Spirit of God—which is the substance of God—THEN you have conviction and you know what you believe!

Verse 1: "Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for… [not yet in hand] …and the conviction of things not seen."

That's why it's so important! This is what faith does for us. Then faith develops into hope! Hope and faith combined together develops into the love of God!

Verse 3: "By faith we understand that the worlds were created by the Word of God, so that the things that are seen were made from things that are invisible." That is a true scientific statement today!

They still don't know what the power is behind the atom. They still don't know what it is. Let's see what happens when people see these things and don't believe these things! This is how society becomes so wicked and evil. As we see the society of the United States now becoming more satanic and demonic as it goes along, is because they're not responding to God.

Romans 1:17: "For therein the righteousness of God is revealed from faith unto faith…" That's a very interesting verse in the Greek. That means that you're belief in God to God and God's Spirit and His faith coming to you!

It is like a connected electrical circuit as an analogy, but it is a spiritual circuit between you and God!

• you have God's Spirit:
• you have faith in God
• you believe God
• you love God
• you hope in His promise

All of that is all contained in it! Faith is renewed from God to you, and you back to God! It is an interacting faith! It's not isolated. Notice what it is causing you to do:

"…according as it is written: 'The just shall live by faith'" (v 17).If you live that is stating action! If you believe God, you will believe His Word. How did Jesus say that man shall live? Man shall not live by bread alone, but by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God!This tells us that that's how we are to live.

If you're not doing that, you need to ask yourself: Do I really have faith unto salvation? or Do I have faith like the water that James described (James 1): you're one way one time and you're another way another time; you're not solid and firm. How can y ou endure to the end?

Here's what happens when people believe that there is a God, but do not believe God, do not have faith in God and do not act upon that faith!

Verse 18: "Indeed, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven upon all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the Truth in unrighteousness."

If you don't believe that men do that, all you have to do is just look at the modern media in America today, and you will understand that:

• they suppress the truth
• they massage the truth
• they make it into a lie

Let's see why:

• Are they doing that in schools?
• Are they doing that in government?
• Are they trying to do it in everyone's private life?
• YES!

Verse 19: "Because that which may be known of God is manifest among them, for God has manifested it to them… [How did God manifest it to them?] …for the invisible things of Him are perceived from the creation of the world…"

This is especially true today when we have all of these fantastic things showing the universe and the solar system, the atom and everything about the creation of God. Yet, they have the nerve on these television programs—especially the History Channel and National Geographic—that they all talk about evolution, and they start with the 'big bang.' The reason that they start with the 'big bang' is because they want to exclude God!

Someone ought to tell us how these things came to be so that there would be a 'big bang.' If you can tell us this, then I'll listen! If you start with the 'big bang' then you're already stealing from God!

God made it know to them "…being understood by the things that were made—both His eternal power and Godhead—so that they are without excuse" (v 20).

Let's see what the witness against them is. This is what God has set before all human beings:

Deuteronomy 30:15: "Behold, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil, in that I command you this day to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments so that you may live… [by faith (Rom. 1)] …and multiply. And the LORD your God shall bless you in the land where you go to possess it" (vs 15-16)—that we're going to read in Rom. 1 that they did.

Verse 17: "But if your heart turn away so that you will not hear, but shall be drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I denounce to you this day that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days on the land where you pass over Jordan to go to possess it" (vs 17-18).

Now notice that God has a witness. So, if you say that you believe that there is a God, and if you say that God is true, then you are standing upon the witness and you have the witness before you all the time. You're never without the witness of God, of His creation. That's what's so important concerning Rom. 1.

Verse 19: "I call heaven and earth to record this day…"

• Do you know there's a heaven? Yes!
• Do you know there's an earth? Yes!

You're standing on it, and you can go out and look at the heaven anytime you want to. You can go out day or night. If you fly in a plane you can go to heaven temporarily. When I fly I'm always happy when the plane lands with both wings on.

One man said, 'I'll keep the Sabbath if God would come down and tell me to keep it.'

• Are you standing on the earth?
• Can you see the heavens? God has told you!
• Now what are you going to do?
• Do you want to be struck down with a lightening bolt?
• Would you believe that?

"…against you that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life, so that both you and your seed may live, that you may love the LORD your God, and may obey His voice…" (vs 19-20).

If you have a Bible, you have the witness and testimony of God in your own house. It contains the written recording—the transcript, like a court transcript—of the Word of God that tells you what to do.

"…and may cleave to Him; for He is your life…" (v 20). You have no life, no existence, without God! He created you and made you in His image!

"…and the length of your days, so that you may dwell in the land, which the LORD swore to your fathers—to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob—to give it to them" (v 20). God placed all people in all nations in their inheritance that He gave to them!

Now we will see how this applies not just to the children of Israel, because I'm sure there are going to some who say that that's just to the Jews. No it's not! It's actually to all people! God said that if you have someone from another nation living within your community of the 12 tribes of Israel, that they would keep the laws and commandments of God as well. That's another whole history.

• If you believe that Abraham was a Jew, you believe a lie!
• If you believe that Moses was a Jew, you believe a lie!
• If you believe that all Israel are Jews, you believe a lie!

It's clearly differentiated in the Bible!

{Note sermon series: Scripturalism vs Judaism}

Romans 1:20—God says: "…so that they are without excuse." Why? Because of heaven and earth, and they knew! Right at the Tower of Babel did they know God? Absolutely! Without a doubt!

Verse 21: "Because when they knew God…" God has revealed Himself to every generation subsequently!

"…they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but they became vain in their own reasonings…" (v 21).

• reasoning around the Word of God
• reasoning around the Truth of God
  • my opinion is
  • I think

If you truly believe in God:

• Do you believe that He has superior intelligence to human beings? Yes!
• Do you believe that His Word is Truth? You probably answer yes to that, but most people would say, 'Yes, but…!'

If God is perfect:

• Do you think that He would devise His Word so poorly that He had to abolish almost all of it to satisfy some people?

If you believe that you are truly ignorant!

"…they became vain in their own reasonings…" That applies to any part of the Word of God you want to get rid of!

• What happens when you do that?
• What happens when you reject God?

People think they're enlightened! But the light that they have, Jesus said is darkness! Jesus also said that 'if the light that is in you is darkness, great is that darkness!'

"…and their foolish hearts were darkened" (v 21).

How do they overcome this? They use the 'suspender trick'! What do I mean by that? Just picture some pompous man who gives himself off as wise, taking his thumbs and sticking them under his suspenders and saying:

I don't believe there is a God. or I don't believe that we need to keep this Law of God or that Law of God. or I believe that Jesus was merely the minister to the circumcision of the Jews. And when Paul wrote what he wrote, that doesn't apply to the Jews, so we need to go through the Epistles of Paul and we need to pick out the things that we agree with.

Never asking the question that if you do that, does God agree with you? If you judge the Law of God unworthy, you're judging God unworthy. Then what happens?

Verse 22: "While professing themselves to be the wise ones, they became fools."

Every evolutionist, this is your shoe so you might as well put it on!

Verse 23: "And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed creatures, and creeping things"—called idols!

Remember the second commandment! What are the first four words? 'You shall not make…' shouldn't even been around. But every religionist, minister and Catholic priest says, 'We don't worship those.' God said not to even make them! Why do you have them?

What do they make them like into? Corruptible man! Look at St. Peter's Basilica. What do you have atop that semicircle where the colonnades are? You have statues of saints! Men! Corruptible men!

• Did they all die? Yes!
• Why do you have the statue up there?
• How can you pray to someone who is dead?

If that is not foolish, I don't know what is!

• "…of birds…"—What about the totem pole?
• "…four-footed creatures…"—bears, lions, buffalo
• "…creeping things…"—snakes/serpents: cobras

Even the Egyptians had a thing with beetles!

What happens when you do this? There's an automatic penalty that happens to people because they don't have faith in God!

Verse 26: "For this cause, God abandoned them to disgraceful passions; for even their women changed the natural use of sex into that which is contrary to nature."

The first thing that happens is illicit, perverted, corrupt sex! That's the sin of every society. Not only here in America, but if you think that we're bad here in American, find out about Thailand and Cambodia, selling their children for pennies to be sex slaves.

Then what happens, 'Oh, we all have to have a religion we agree on, so, v 25: "Who exchanged the Truth of God for the lie… [the lie of Satan the devil] …and they worshiped and served the created thing more than the One Who is Creator, Who is blessed into the ages. Amen."

Then you have a society that degenerates into one like we have now. It's all based upon false faith, false belief, relying in self and rejecting God. That's quite a thing!

Let's see what faith is to motivate us to do.

Hebrews 11:4: "By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain…"—because Cain did not have faith; he wanted to do it His way. If you want to do it your way you don't have faith in God to do it His way!

"…by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it, though he died, he is yet speaking" (v 4). That tells you the power and value of the Word of God!

Verse 5: "By faith Enoch was transported so that he would not look upon death, and was not found because God had transported him…"

He did not go to heaven; he went into the first heaven where there are clouds and came back to the earth. That's another whole story we won't get into that right now.

"…for before his departure it was testified of him that he pleased God" (v 5). Ask yourself:

• Do I do the things that please God?
• What is pleasing to God?
• Do you know what is pleasing to God?

Think about this:

• IF you attempt to worship God with lies like Cain did, do you think you please God?
• Can you worship the God of Truth with lies?

You may say you believe in God, but you don't believe God enough to worship Him the was He says to. God says:

• I'll hear your prayer
• I'll answer your prayers
• Here's how you approach Me
• Worship Me in spirit and truth
• I will hear you
• I will be with you
• I will bless you

But you say, 'No, God, I've got a better way! I think that it ought to be this way!' You can do the things that please God, without a doubt.

Verse 6: "Now, without faith… [the true faith] …it is impossible to please God…."

If you have the wrong kind of faith, or you have no faith, how can you say that you worship God? You have to worship Him in spirit and truth:

• not with rosaries
• not with beads
• not with idols
• not with pictures
• not with candles
• not with incense

But from your heart, a true repentant heart!

"…For it is mandatory for the one who comes to God to believe that He exists, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" (v 6). How do you seek God?

• by prayer
• by study
• by living your life the way that God has said

Verse 7: "By faith Noah, after being Divinely instructed by God about the things he could not yet see, was moved with fear and prepared an ark for the salvation of his house; through which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness, which is by faith." Righteousness by faith before the New Testament! That's all the way through.

• Did Abraham have righteousness by faith?
• Did Moses have righteousness by faith?
• Likewise Isaac and Jacob?
• Yes, indeed!

What if Noah would have said:

Lord, what do You mean that You're going to flood the world? I've never seen a rain like that, why should I build an ark? Let me just climb this mountain and go over into the next valley, so when You flood this valley I'll be out of the way, and everything will be just fine!

That's the way the non-believers portray it on the History Channel concerning the Flood. They don't believe that it covered the whole earth, yet, the whole earth is a witness that there was a flood upon the whole earth.

I remember walking up on a mountain, 12,000 feet, in Wyoming where they have this sandy shale rock and I picked up all kinds of fossilized trilobites. If it only flooded into a little valley next to where Noah was, how could it be at 12,000 feet? It says that it covered the whole earth, the hills and the mountains, 15 cubits upward, which is approximately 22-23 feet above the mountains.

Have you ever seen anything survive that was for 5 months until it quit raining. By the time it all receded it was a little over a year. Has anyone survived that long underwater without breathing?

If you have faith, you do what God says!

Verse 8: "By faith Abraham, being called of God to go out into the place, which he would later receive for an inheritance, obeyed and went, not knowing where he was going."

But he obeyed God! Faith and obedience. If you say that you have faith, then let's see your obedience! Let's see what kind of obedience that Abraham had.

In Gen. 26 is a verse that we often visit, but this is for the sake of those who don't believe in keeping the commandments of God. We repeat this for a little salt in your non-believing wound. Here God confirms the promise to Isaac, and here's what He told him:

Genesis 26:3: "Stay in this land, and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your seed, I will give all these lands; and I will establish the oath, which I swore to Abraham your father."

God is not like a human being; He cannot lie! So, once He swore that He would to do it, He would! He promised it!

• Have you kept all your promises?
• Have you promised God some things that you have never done?

Think about it!

Verse 4: "And I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and will give to your seed all these lands. And in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws"Abraham didn't say:

• God, I think
• God, that law is not fair
• God, I don't want to keep Your Sabbath

The Sabbath was from creation and Abraham obviously kept it if he was righteous, because all of the commandments of God are righteousness. Show me one commandment of God that is unrighteous. There aren't any!

Paul also wrote that 'if you are Christ's then you are Abraham's seed.' Do you do like Abraham?

• obey God's voice
• keep His charge
• keep His commandments
• keep His laws
• keep His statutes

OR

• Are you an illegitimate believer because you won't obey? That's what all of orthodox Christendom needs to ask themselves, and yea, even the Churches of God today!
• How many of them are so socialized with social events. I remember reading paper from a church and all they did was have all the social events that they had there, and I was wondering: When do they go to Church? If they go to Church:

• What do they really hear?
• Do they hear the Word of God?

or

• Are they all being massaged with nice stories and things and have become lukewarm and can't stand the real Truth of God?

You really don't have enough faith to really obey God, and you don't have enough faith to stand on your own two feet and be able to keep the Truth even if you have to stand alone.

Remember, you're better standing alone with the Truth of God, than to stand in the congregation of pretenders and have numbers!

• How many were with Abraham that believed like Abraham? Only his wife!
• How many were with Isaac? Only his wife!
• How many really believed like Moses? Not one!

You need to ask yourself:

• What do you really believe?
• What kind of faith do you really have?

If you have the faith that pleases God, you will obey God!

Hebrews 11:9: "By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, like a foreigner, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the joint heirs of the same promise; for he was waiting for the city with the foundations of which God is the Architect and Builder" (vs 9-10).

When you understand that statement referring to New Jerusalem that is correct. But when you look at the statement and look back, Abraham was not that far removed from the Tower of Babel and the city that they built in Babylon, then you understand the reference to what this is. That was built by Nimrod, Semiramis and all of the rebellious people.

Verse 11: "By faith also Sarah herself received power to conceive seed… [try that at 90-years-old and your husband being 100] …and gave birth when she was well beyond the childbearing age because she esteemed Him faithful Who had personally promised her a son…. [and God performed it] …Because of this faith, there came into being from one man—and moreover, one who was reproductively dead—descendants as numerous as the stars in the heavens, and as countless as the sand on the sea shore. All these died in faith… [through faith] …not having received the promises but having seen them from afar…" (vs 11-13).

You've got to keep focus on the goal every day! That's why the prayer every day is, 'Your Kingdom come, Your will be done!'

"…and having been persuaded of them… [not just persuaded, but convicted] …and having embraced them… [bring them closely into your heart, mind and being] …and having confessed that they were strangers and sojourners on the earth…. [that's what we are today] …For those who say such things make it manifest that they seek their own country… [the Kingdom of God] …as promised by God" (vs 13-14).

Now, here's a little warning, v 15: "And if, on the one hand, they had let their minds dwell fondly on the place where they came from, they might have had opportunity to return." Yes, indeed, because Satan is always there saying, 'Come on! Come on!'

Verse 16: "But now, on the other hand, they are aspiring to a more excellent country—that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God because He has prepared a city for them."

Let's understand what Jesus said to the Pharisees: 'I work, and My Father is working.' The work of God coming from the Father and Jesus Christ not only upholds the whole universe, but is working in our lives! Also, They are preparing a place for us! That's what's so important to understand and realize. If we have faith we will do exactly as Jesus said!

John 14:1: "Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many dwelling places… [in New Jerusalem] …if it were otherwise, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you" (vs 1-2).

That's what God is doing for each one of the saints, from Abel all the way down to the last two witnesses!

Here's a promise, so don't let the things in the world, don't let the political situations in the world, don't let anything deter you from understanding, believing and having faith in God.

Verse 3: "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; so that where I am, you may be also."

That's the kind of faith we need to see us through the end-times!

Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version (except where noted)

Scriptural References:

• Isaiah 57:1-2
• Psalm 17:15
• Revelation 21:22
• Revelation 22:4
• Psalm 17:15
• Psalm 16:8-11
• 1 Corinthians 15:20-22
• John 14:6
• 1 Corinthians 15:23-28, 42-54
• Revelation 21:1-7
• Luke 18:7-8
• Mark 9:17-29
• James 2:14-17
• James 4:18-19
• Revelation 20:10
• James 2:20-23
• Revelation 20:10
• James 2:20-23
• James 1:1-8
• Hebrews 11:1, 3
• Romans 1:17-20
• Deuteronomy 30:15-20
• Romans 1:20-23, 26, 25
• Hebrews 11:4-8
• Genesis 26:3-4
• Hebrews 11:9-16
• John 14:1-3

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Genesis 2
• 1 Corinthians 15
• Acts 2
• Roman 5:12
• Malachi 4
• John 17
• Genesis 1:26

Also referenced:

• Sermon: Why Did God Make Man the Way That He Did?
• Sermon Series: Scripturalism vs Judaism

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 3/20/20

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