Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. In order to die in the
faith, it is necessary to live in it as well. A person cannot
be identified with something in death that they were not associated
with in life. This fact is ignored at many
funerals, as men try to paint a rosy picture of the departed
and search out even the most obscure words, deeds, or associations
of the dead in order to brand them as believers. Yet true faith
is that which is not hidden, rather it is the sum and substance
of the true believer's whole existence. Much of the teaching
about faith that goes on today centers on the aspect of believing
and receiving. Faith is reduced a little more
than a bargaining chip or tool to get what we want. The proud
proclaimers of name it and claim it are on every corner, and they
cease not day and night to weigh God's people down with the burden
that neither they nor their fathers were able to bear. They tell
us that the reason we aren't healed or wealthy is because
we just do not have faith. The blessing of God in their
mind is a blessing which is enjoyed in the flesh, and those who enjoy
such blessing possess the new status symbol of faith. Those
who are afflicted or without abundance in this world's goods
are, according to them, in this condition because they are really
lacking in the belief department and are more or less second-class
citizens in the family of God. The Scripture is abundantly clear
that faith does not exempt God's people from suffering. They were
stoned, they were sown asunder, were tempted, were slain with
the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins,
being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy.
They wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and
caves of the earth, and these all, having obtained a good report
through faith, received not the promise. Obviously, these men
and women were true believers. The difference in true faith
and that which is a cheap substitute is found in the object of one's
faith. These believers openly confessed
that this world was not their home, that they were looking
for something which this world could not supply. True faith
has its sights set on something and someone which is not of this
world. Faith is not imagined, but is
the substance of things hoped for. One does not have to have
those things which can be seen and touched in order to possess
that which cannot be lost. Faith itself is that substance
which can be known and felt when the object of one's faith is
Jesus Christ. We have not seen him in the flesh,
yet we have known him just the same. whom having not seen ye
love, in whom though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice
with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving the end of
your faith, even the salvation of your souls. When Christ is
not the object of faith, then faith becomes void and of no
effect. Faith which is exercised without
the glory of Christ as its goal is useless to the true believer.
All of our expectations, both in this world and that to come,
are found in Christ alone. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live, yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which
I have committed unto him against that day. The object of Paul's
faith was Christ. His confidence to face the day
of judgment was not in himself or anything he had done or said,
but simply that which the Lord had done and would do for him.
Confidence in the face of trial can only come from trusting in
Him whose promise never fails. And lo, I am with you always,
even unto the end of the world. Here is the evidence of things
not seen. How important is faith! But without faith it is impossible
to please Him. For he that cometh to God must
believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him. Faith is not a natural trait
of men, and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked
men, for all men have not faith. Where does faith come from? For
by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves,
it is the gift of God. How is it brought to man? So
then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
How is it demonstrated? Let us lay aside every weight
and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with
patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus,
the author and finisher of our faith. Do you believe in your
religion, or do you believe in Christ alone? For a free CD containing
15 of these radio broadcasts, send an email to forthepoor at
windstream.net.