And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account (Hebrews 4:13).
Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth (Luke 18:8)? And He said to her, "Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go in peace."(Luke 8:48). Let me assure you, everyone under the sun wrestles with disease. You’ve not been picked out for special torment with sickness. All disease and sickness comes from the devil. I’ve heard some people say there is a redemptive kind of sickness where we pay for ours or someone else’s sins, but there is no truth in such thinking. God never created, nor does He use, sickness and disease to train you in any arena. So when Satan attacks you, like he attacks every single person, simply use the words recorded here to your advantage. “My faith makes me well.” “I am at peace with this attack because I know I win.” “I will be of good cheer, even if the symptoms are driving me crazy.” You can make up hundreds more phrases which express the reality of your healing through your faith, obtained by Jesus Christ, the Son of God!
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And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account (Hebrews 4:13).
Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8). 24 And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!" Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm. 25 But He said to them, "Where is your faith?" And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, "Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!" (Luke 8:24, 25). Jesus asks them where their faith is. Did He look around the bottom of the boat to see if it was floating in the water that I’m sure came aboard? Where could their faith have been? Were they carrying it with them all the time, but simply didn’t put it into practice? Could they have stopped the storm? Most assuredly yes. The Body of Christ is vastly ignorant of the power they carry with them all the time. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account (Hebrews 4:13).
“Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?"(Luke 18:8). 44 Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. 45 You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. 46 You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. 47 Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” 48 Then He said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." 49 And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" 50 Then He said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you. Go in peace." (Luke 7:44–50). This woman knew Jesus well enough to worship Him with extravagance. For what was she having faith? For exactly what she received—forgiveness of her sins. She wanted to made clean. How was her faith expressed? Through love. Do we love Him enough to be extravagant? To spend our money on Him? To express our love in public, even when no one else is doing so? From this act of love her sins were forgiven, she received salvation (to spend eternity in heaven with God) grace to live in abundance here on earth—salvation has weighty significance—and she received peace. Peace is priceless. It is rare on the earth, but in heaven peace is the atmosphere. She received heaven on earth! May your faith save you! And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account (Hebrews 4:13).
“Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). Faith can be seen. It doesn’t just lie there dormant, waiting for God to do something. The person who just waits for God to act, is a fool in my opinion. God sets tasks for Himself and His child to do together. If you want God to do something for you, act like God, work with Him to make your faith come to pass. Like the men who lowered their friend through the roof to lay him at Jesus feet. 19 And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus. 20 When He saw their faith, He said to him, "Man, your sins are forgiven you," (Luke 5:19, 20). Faith acts like the thing hoped for has already come to pass. Faith talks like the owner already has it. Faith thinks thoughts and uses the imagination to confirm the possession of the thing hoped for. A certain missionary I know wanted to build a steel bottomed boat to float on the Amazon, to take a medical clinic and a Bible school into the outreaches, where no other boat could go. He talked about that boat to absolutely everybody. He didn’t just talk, he prepared. He found a boat company that would do the work, he designed it on paper. And one day, someone gave him the money to build it. Right now the Amazon has a steel bottomed boat carrying the Gospel and medical supplies to the outbound! That’s faith! Go ahead! Lower your man down through the roof, even if people laugh at you or try to get you to stop. You just keep on proclaiming your faith by word and deed, and it will come to pass. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account (Hebrews 4:13).
“Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). “Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord,” (Luke 1:45). According to Luke’s Gospel, Mary is the first person to demonstrate faith. As a young girl, when the angel approached her to tell her she would have a baby, Mary was troubled by what he said, apparently not by his presence. Maybe she was accustomed to seeing angels. Perhaps if we weren’t so distracted by other things we would see more of them. The angel said three things about her and those are the things that troubled her. He said she was highly favored, that the Lord was with her, and “blessed are you among women.” She didn’t seem to know that any of these were true. Then after the angel tells her how mighty her son will be, her first reaction is to ask how can this happen since she doesn’t know a man (intimately). The angel brings the conversation back to a normal level, talking about Elizabeth expecting a baby. And after that, Mary makes a leap of faith. She says to let it be done to her according to the angel’s word. She buys the whole package. What interests me is that she says this right after the angel says, “For with God nothing will be impossible.” That is also what we hang our faith on—God. He can do anything. He wants to do it. He will do it. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account, (Hebrews 4:13).
Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth, (Luke 18:8)? So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God.” (Mark 11:22). The disciples are astonished that a certain fig tree has shriveled and died overnight after Jesus spoke reprovingly to it. Yet Jesus does not say what I think some people would have liked for Him to have said. He does not apologize for hurting a precious creation of nature. He simply acknowledges that yes, He did this thing, and He did it with His faith. In older translations of the Bible, His words read: “Have the faith of God.” But certain Christians will fight you to the death if you try to use that translation. Tell me, what is the difference? What kind of faith does God have? To briefly respond, His faith never fails. He receives what He believes, and what He says comes to pass. Yet, if we accept “Have faith in God,” aren’t we requiring ourselves to have the very same faith God has? Or are we allowed to doubt Him a bit? I challenge you. Have the faith of God! And don’t apologize for it! And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account (Hebrews 4:13).
Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth (Luke 18:8)? There are all kinds of ways for healing to be “acquired.” One is by asking for it in prayer. That kind of praying acknowledges that you don’t know you have already been healed by the stripes of Jesus; it means you are still a baby Christian, and as such, God answers your prayers. Another way is by the Word of God. You have learned that you can collect many Scriptures on healing, recite them to the sickness afflicting you, and command the sickness to leave. I’ve known people to be healed by taking communion. They are ones with deep affection for the Body and Blood of Jesus and trust the elements to convey His blessing. I like receiving my healings by speaking to the sickness and commanding it to leave in the name of Jesus. That name carries all power in the universe, and I like using it. But Mark associates healing with faith. And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction." (Mark 5:34). Then Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your faith has made you well." And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road (Mark 10:52). I don’t need to recount these two stories because the statements of Jesus explain the Truth. Your faith has made you well. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account (Hebrews 4:13).
Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth (Luke 18:8)? Mark, being the stalwart soldier in the Lord’s army that he is, doesn’t mince words. The next thing he says about faith is to correlate no faith with fear. 40 But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?" 41 And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, "Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!" (Mark 4:40-41). Jesus had been teaching to crowds all day. Even when they got into the boat, little boats scrambled to follow them. He must have been exhausted. We have to keep in mind that He was here as a man, not as God. He put His deity aside in order to demonstrate how to live as a man yet do the exploits of God because the Holy Spirit filled Him. We also have the Holy Spirit living in us and what Jesus did, He said we should do more and better. The water was beating into the boat, no doubt his pillow was drenched, but He was sleeping so soundly He did not notice. As a man Jesus desperately needed rest. He was not pretending to be asleep so He could teach His disciples something. However, neither Jesus nor His Father waste opportunities. Fear means no faith. Faith means no fear. The entire Christian world learns from this one example that even in dire circumstances – be awesome in your faith. Be strong! Command the adverse predicaments to cease and believe that they will. Incidentally, before you travel someplace, it’s a good thing to declare, “We will cross over to the other side!” And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account (Hebrews 4:13).
Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth (Luke 18:8)? Mark’s first mention of faith is found in his second chapter, fifth verse, where he correlates faith with the forgiveness of sins. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven you." Jesus is looking up as He is saying this, looking at the men who opened the roof to let down their paralyzed friend. So His remark is made to the men about their faith, not to the man on the cot, and yet, it is the paralytic who is healed. Why doesn’t Jesus ever say to the man, “you are healed” like He says so often to others? Consider that sin comes from the devil, as do sicknesses. They go hand in hand. God doesn’t give either one of those things to mankind. Therefore, when sins are forgiven, healing is found, and when healing happens, sins are eradicated. But what is in operation to make those two things happen? Faith. Faith that God is God? Jesus is Lord? No. Faith that our sins are forgiven. Faith that Jesus heals all the time. Did the man have to have faith for that? Obviously not. He was probably holding fast to hope that his friends would not drop him! The faith came from the men. How often do you operate your faith for others? And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account (Hebrews 4:13).
Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth (Luke 18:8)? 18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen(Matthew 28:18–20). Matthew has given us a succinct overview of what Faith is. Now he ends his epistle with the greatest challenge of our lives. It’s one thing to know what to do. It’s another thing to actually go and do it. Obedience indicates faith, even great faith to go and do what He commands. Are you going? If not, are you sending? Everyone not going needs to be supporting a missionary who is going. |
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December 2018
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