My Faith
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 10768 |
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March 20, 2011 |
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 "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible." (Hebrews 11:1-3)
If you have true faith, you should also believe in the existence of Heaven and Hell and faithfully fulfill your God-given duties. Many parts of the Bible liken faith to pure gold. It's because both gold and spiritual faith have the character of unchangeableness in common. Do you have the faith of pure gold worthy to please God? Or do you have faith that is a piece of metal plated with gold? This message will help you to examine your faith by three aspects.
First, do you keep your mouth with goodness?
In 1 Samuel chapter 11 we find that King David intentionally drove Uriah, one of his faithful men, into death. This wicked sin caused him to receive severe trials and discipline. During his disciplines, his son Absalom rebelled and usurped the throne. David had to flee from his son. When David arrived at Bahurim, a man of the house of Saul named "Shimei" came out and hurled curses and words of abuse at him.
David didn't show any reaction to Shimei's curses, and he stopped his warriors from killing that man. It's because he realized all the difficulties he was going through were allowed by God for him to be disciplined. He committed everything to God thoroughly humbling himself.
Shimei was the son of Gera and a man of the family of the house of Saul. When King Saul died, Shimei blamed Saul's death on David and he harbored a groaning heart against David. When David fell into difficulties, Shemei poured out many complaints against David. He also showed his wrath against David with many grumbling words that arose in his mind, even taking the name of God in vain. Rather than to have mercy on another in affliction, Shimei caused additional pain and evil to a man who already suffered.
Some believers seem to have considerable faith, but they grumble and complain out if they suffer from trials and afflictions. When their afflictions unreasonably and mistakenly bring condemnation from others, they don't humble themselves or build up goodness but instead cause evils to the people around them.
This means that despite their profession of faith they actually have very little faith. Still less, if they pass judgment and condemnation on others who are afflicted, and they curse them with evil words because of their evils and frameworks of untruths, they cannot be said to have faith. If you have true faith, you must be able to show goodness in any difficult situation.
Second, do you love the souls with all your life?
The prophet Elisha manifested such amazing power of God during his ministry. The Apostle Paul also did.
By the power of God, Elisha healed Naaman, the commander of the army of Syria, of his leprosy and brought the dead son of a Shunammite woman back to life. Moreover, his prophecies on the result of wars and the death and life of people were fulfilled exactly. All these were manifested because he had followed the greatest prophet Elijah up to his last moment of the earthly life and received a double portion of his spiritual power.
Though he manifested many powerful works of God, his heart was immensely different from Paul's heart. When he had left Jericho and was going up to Bethel, many young people were following him and they hurled severe mockeries at him. Elisha couldn't endure it anymore and cursed them in the name of God the LORD, so that two female bears came out of the woods and tore up 42 of them. Elisha knew how great the authority of his words truly was, and he must have tried to escape from the youths pretending not to hear their cursing. But when they persistently followed and afflicted him, he couldn't endure it and spoke out the words of curse.
The amount and severity of afflictions and persecutions Elisha had to endure cannot be compared to those the Apostle Paul suffered during his ministry. Some Jews made a vow to kill Paul and persecuted him wherever he went. He was once stoned to death and brought back to life, and also beaten with rods many times. In all these situations, he never spoke out any words of complaint and cursing. He didn't even spare his own life in leading the souls to the path of salvation.
Thus, if you have true and fervent love for the souls, you don't find any difficulty and burden in your ministry. Your heart is filled with such desires as to help them prosper in spirit and receive salvation. Some believers are enthusiastic in nature and diligently do works of God, but that doesn't mean they have true faith. Only when you are faithful to the kingdom of God because you love God and the souls, can you be deemed to have true faith as a faithful worker.
Third, are you obedient in your trusting in God?
Joseph was sold into slavery in Egypt at 17. For the next 13 years he went through many trials. He knew that those trials were allowed for his blessing by God, but he had no idea of detailed plans of God. He obeyed the will of God with unchanging faith because he believed God always walks with him.
While he was serving Potiphar, the captain of the bodyguard of Pharaoh, he was imprisoned without reason. He calmly committed everything to God and faithfully fulfilled every duty. With the passing of time there seemed to be no hope, but only greater difficulties in his life. Despite these realities of life, he never doubted the providence of God and had no change or discouragement in his heart.
In the same way, if you have trust in God, you can obey whatever is commanded of you by God. You have no regret or change in that obedience even though it profits you nothing. If your determination changes in the middle because the situation doesn't agree with your thought and brings about difficulties, then you cannot be said to trust God to the end.
God is searching for spiritual workers who trust Him from the bottom of their hearts and obey Him in any circumstances. I pray in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ you may attain to the measure of true faith that can be recognized by God in the three aspects of the confession of your mouth, your love for the souls and your obedience.
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