Faith: The means by which we get to know God.

Last week we examined the foundational principle of faith. This week we turn to how faith is put into practice in our daily lives.

1. The Word of God

The main means of acquiring knowledge is through the Bible, the word of God. This includes:

(a) Hearing God’s word: Paul wrote, “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Rom 10:17). Every time the word is read we should attentively listen, expecting God to speak to us.

(b) Reading God’s word: Paul wrote to Timothy, “…give attention to reading” (1 Tim 4:13). It is important to have a reading plan. Remember the purpose is not merely a knowledge of the Bible, but the knowledge of God himself.

Although it is a well-known cliché, it is still true, ‘you can know God as much as you want to’. Here are some interesting facts: if you read the Bible for 15 minutes each day you would read the whole Bible in less than a year; for a normal reader the whole Bible could be read in 71 hours; the Old Testament in 52 hours and the New Testament in 19 hours. If you read ten chapters a day, in 18 weeks you would have read the whole book. By coming to know God’s ways and works through reading, faith in him is encouraged.

(c) Studying God’s word: This involves taking a book of the Bible, or a doctrine, subject, or character, and collecting all the information you can to learn of him.

(d) Memorising God's word: Many times in Scripture we are exhorted to ‘remember'. The first essential is to receive truth in our hearts - and it is also profitable to have it in our memories.

Although it is a well-known cliché, it is still true, ‘you can know God as much as you want to’.

(e) Singing God’s word: So much Scripture has now been put to music. There is nothing better to offer to God than that which God himself inspired. We have available a whole book of Psalms.

(f) Writing God’s word: The kings of Israel had to write out all God’s instructions. Sometimes we learn more from verses by writing them because you note every word.

(g) Meditating on God’s word: Of all the ways of approaching the word of God, meditation is the most rewarding. Meditation is the practice of pondering, considering and reflecting on verses of Scripture in complete dependence on the Holy Spirit to give revelation of truth. When there is obedient response, the word is imparted within. This will bring forth worship, or praise, or thanksgiving, or prayer, or intercession to God. The more we inwardly receive from him, the more we have to give to him.¹

2. Prayer

Obviously we can never get to know someone without communication. By prayer we speak to God, thus increasing our knowledge of him. Through answered prayer our faith toward God is strengthened and increased. Our prayers are not dependent on eloquent speech, but on the honest outpouring of our hearts and love to him. Thank God, heaven is always open to us and we can speak to him at any time of day or night.

Through the word we discover the will of God, and when our desire is, “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” then, as John wrote, we have confidence in prayer, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of him” (1 John 5:14-15).

3. Experience

Our trust in God is enhanced by many experiences, either our own, or those of others. The remembrance of the past faithfulness of God is often an incentive to trust him for the present and the future. The old hymn encourages us, “Count your many blessings, name them one by one; And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.”

How faith-building it is to read of God’s faithfulness to his people down through the ages. There are so many stories to thrill us: the walls of Jericho falling; the deliverance of Jerusalem in the time of Hezekiah; the many miracles of Jesus; Peter's deliverance from prison, etc. All these stories, and some from your own life, prove that God can be trusted as the reliable, promise-keeping One.

Thank God, heaven is always open to us and we can speak to him at any time of day or night.

It is also refreshing to read the biographies of God’s servants who have proved God in so many circumstances: people like William Carey, David Livingstone, Madame Guyon, Corrie Ten Boom, Brother Andrew, and the work of Open Doors, Operation Mobilisation, Youth With A Mission and so many others who had faith in God.

4. Through the Church

By good teaching and pastoral care in our local churches we learn more about the greatness and goodness of God. Here, too, we rub shoulders with our brothers and sisters in Christ from whom we can learn so much.

We can share our joys and our sorrows, our victories and defeats, our needs and his supply. Here we can experience the support of one another in prayer and action and serving one another. We can learn much of the ways of God through other members of his body.

5. Miracles

When Jesus performed his first miracle in Cana of Galilee by turning water into wine, the faith of the disciples was greatly increased. “This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him” (John 2:11). How wonderful it is to witness the supernatural power of God, proving that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever”.

The Lord never did any miracle merely to attract crowds or satisfy their curiosity. His one purpose in all that he did was to bring glory to God that people might learn about him and, in learning, believe in him. One day Jesus was asked the question, "’What must we do to do the works God requires?’ Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent’” (John 6:28-29). One of the greatest things we can do is to trust him.

Questions

1. As the Bible is the main means of getting to know God, how are you fulfilling this in your daily life? Are adjustments needed?

2. What is your most recent answer to prayer? How did it affect your faith in God?

3. How has your faith in God increased through your local church?

4. Reflect on God’s goodness to you. When did you last count your blessings? Why not do it now, and worship him.

Notes

1 For a detailed study of this important subject, the author has written a book: The Practice of Biblical Meditation (1982, Marshall, Pickering). The American title of the same book is Alone with God (Bethany Publishers).

This article is part of a series, re-publishing a booklet entitled 'The Biblical Basis of First Principles'. Click here for previous instalments.

Paul Luckraft reviews ‘The Battle of the Ages’ by Lance Lambert (2014).

This book is a call and a challenge to genuine intercession and “is directed to the remnant of the faithful in the Western nations” (p5). It is based on the transcripts of several messages given in America, turned into seven chapters and an epilogue entitled ‘The Mystery of Israel’.

The book begins by encouraging us to ‘watch and be sober’. The Church has largely been silent while our nation’s Christian foundations have been destroyed. A colossal removal of Christian principles from Western society has taken place before our eyes while we have sat back. Our Christianity is far too comfortable.

Lambert warns that we are now facing not so much a flood of evil as an avalanche, with powerful forces arrayed against us. He explains what these principalities, powers and world rulers of darkness are like and how they engage in ‘the battle of the ages’.

This title, ‘the battle of the ages’, is key. Although there is a strong focus on prayer in this book, it is not a handbook on prayer, as such. Rather, it contains much wisdom and wider analysis of society, which should inform intercessors and direct their prayers.

Seeing the Spiritual Dimension

In the next chapter Lambert shows us that this world is essentially spiritual, if we have eyes to see. All of global history is the expression of a cosmic battle between God and satan, of both fallen and unfallen invisible beings.

Lambert warns that we are now facing not so much a flood of evil as an avalanche, with powerful forces arrayed against us.

Prayer is engaging in this spiritual battle. Equally important, though, is the fight for the truth contained within God’s word, especially defending it against critical analysis (which began in Germany), disputing the Bible’s divine inspiration.

Each chapter is headed with a significant passage of Scripture, of some length - presumably the reading before each talk that he gave. One such passage is the well-known Daniel 9 which informs the book chapter that focuses on the strategic need for intercession. Daniel is the best example of how to counter the excuses we make not to be an intercessor! The whole chapter is an excellent survey of what intercession is about and how to become more powerful in it.

Lambert also provides personal examples and other stories to help illuminate and inspire. These include the Hebrides revival (1950s), the awakening in the Thames Valley and the Welsh revival (early 1900s). But primarily, his appeal is for people to take the first step into intercession, namely to say to the Lord, “I want to be an intercessor”. The Lord is so short of candidates, he argues, that he will snap you up immediately. Despite the humour, this is a serious point. This is how it begins, with a heart which is prepared to be transformed by the will, which says ‘Take me!’

Israel at the Heart

The title of the book emphasises that the battle has run throughout world history and will continue until the very end of the age. It began before Adam and Eve fell, and will climax when the Lord returns victorious.

The Lord is so short of candidates for intercession, Lambert argues, that he will snap up willing volunteers immediately.

Meanwhile, at the heart of the battle today is the tiny nation of Israel. The final two chapters are devoted to this theme which lead naturally into the epilogue, The Mystery of Israel, taken from Romans 11.

Overall, an excellent book from the pen of one of God’s mighty warriors who entered into his rest and reward shortly after its publication. Even if it doesn’t turn everyone who reads it into an intercessor, it will certainly help us all appreciate the vital and costly role that they undertake.

‘The Battle of the Ages’ (130 pages, paperback) is available on Amazon for £6.52.

For several weeks we have been experiencing technical problems that may be a deliberate attack upon this magazine. Around 20 - 30% of our database have not been receiving their newsletter from Prophecy Today each week. Our web technician is working to solve the problem but we feel that it is very much a spiritual attack – the enemy may be trying to prevent people from reading and sharing our articles. Please pray for Andy, our web technician, that he is given revelation to discover the source of the attack and that he is able to deal with it.

If you have been missing your weekly emails, here are the last few:

29 June: Hope for Anglicans?

22 June: Truth has stumbled in the streets - and in the pulpits

15 June: Important messages to the British Church

8 June: Theresa May, free speech and much more

1 June: Italy's Government, Ireland's referendum and France's mission field

25 May: The Royal Wedding and much more

May was the month of two weddings, according to my family.

For the Royal Wedding, my wife sat glued to the television much of the day, but the second wedding - that of my third daughter Sophie (we have five daughters) - was by far the more important for us. Almost a year was taken up with its preparation (far too much according to my reckoning!) and God heard our prayers, blessing the celebration with shalom and fine weather.

Such little rays of happiness continue within a world that steps farther away from God and towards prophesied disaster.

I remember a conversation with my daughters some years back where they expressed their desire for time and opportunity to experience marriage and families before Jesus returns. Perhaps with the experience of life, us older ones might discourage that sentiment as foolish and illogical, though I remember when it was also my own dream. So, what does the Bible tell us of such matters?

God’s Heart for Family

God’s heart is totally family-orientated. Take for instance:

Children too are a gift from Adonai: the fruit of the womb is a reward. The children born when one is young are like arrows in the hand of a warrior. How blessed is the man who has filled his quiver with them… (Psalm 127:3-5)

To experience the blessings of a God-centred family is to come close to our Heavenly Father’s heart. And it is best to start with a God-centred marriage.

Each time we celebrate a marriage it acts out (for those who have eyes to see) the wedding feast we believers are corporately looking forward to as Jesus’ Bride when he returns as King and Bridegroom. The Apostle John says:

Let us rejoice and be glad! Let us give him the glory! For the time has come for the wedding of the Lamb, and his Bride has prepared herself… (Rev 19:7)

Jesus took time to participate in marriage celebrations as we know from John 2:1-11 where he ensured the success of a wedding by turning water into wine. He also used the wedding picture in several of his teachings:

• Jesus described the kingdom of Heaven as like a king who prepared a wedding feast for his son. (Matt 22:1-14)
• Jesus likened the kingdom of Heaven to the preparation of wise and foolish virgins for a wedding with the consequences of being prepared or not. (Matt 25:1-13)

Furthermore, marriage will be part of God’s creation right up until the time Jesus returns. In Matthew 24:38-41 Jesus told his listeners that “before the Flood, people went on…taking wives and becoming wives…and they didn’t know what was happening until the Flood came and swept them away. It will be just like that when the Son of Man comes”; we will be continuing such everyday activities as farming, milling, having our meals, celebrating marriages, etc.

“So…” (Jesus had already in v32 prophesied signs in order that we might be aware when his return is close), “So…” do all these things but “stay alert, like a house owner who knows a thief is coming but not exactly when” (v42-44).

A Word of Caution

It is important to balance the priority of our marriages on earth with the expectation of the Lord’s return for His Bride. Paul’s advice in 1 Corinthians 7 (vv25-30), stressing the priority of preparing for the latter, recommends that “In a time of stress…because the present scheme of things in this world won’t last much longer”, it can be good (though not essential) for a person to stay as he is: singles to remain single and marrieds to remain married.

I think Paul’s concern was that these everyday affairs can distract from what is more important - namely holding to and sharing the good news of salvation. As was the case in Paul’s days, so will be the case again in the days to come.

To Marry or Not to Marry?

I believe that we are still living in a time when it is good to encourage our children to experience marriage and have families, if that is their desire, making their marriage promises to each other in the sight of God, with family and friends to witness.

Who knows - it is possible that in the times ahead, these very families will become the hub of many little house congregations. So, go find good God-fearing husbands, daughters of mine!

Author: John Quinlan

Bible quotes from the Complete Jewish Translation.

A call to believers to battle for the nation.

I don’t often have a sleepless night worrying about the state of the nation. But I did on Wednesday night after watching the chaotic scenes in Parliament that led to the expulsion from the chamber of the leader of the Scottish Nationalist MPs, followed by their mass walkout.

No, I wasn’t worrying about the possibility of another Scottish Referendum and the breakup of the Union, or about the effect upon our parliamentary democracy of the battle between the Lords and the Commons over Brexit. I was worrying about Bible-believing Christians in Britain being no longer involved in the battle for Brexit.

I am convinced that it was praying, Bible-believing Christians who, through their intercession in the days leading up to the historic 2016 Referendum, helped to produce a majority in favour of leaving the European Union. That this was achieved despite the predictions of the pundits and the enormous effort of the establishment, European and world leaders and the mainstream media, all trying to persuade Brits to stay shackled to the EU, is nothing short of miraculous.

But the Referendum battle was only a minor skirmish in comparison with what is happening now, as the Remainers mobilise their forces to reverse the decision and force Britain to stay within the European Union. That is their intention - nothing less - despite all their protests that they are only trying to ensure good trade deals.

My greatest worry is that I sense that many Christians no longer watch the news and follow the developments in the Brexit process because they are tired of it all, or because it’s all so depressing. Yes, it is! But if Christians opt out of the battle the consequences are unbelievably disastrous. The Bible reminds us that "Unless the Lord builds the house its builders labour in vain” (Ps 127).

If Christians opt out of the battle the consequences are unbelievably disastrous.

Have Christians Given Up?

Britain’s prospective release from the European Project and its demonic powers offers a wonderfully open future, potentially full of prosperity and new life. But this can only be achieved where there is sufficient faith in God to allow for his guidance and blessing to be influential in our national affairs.

My fear today is that many Christians have given up battling in prayer for Britain. Yes, I know what I wrote a year ago about not simply praying for prosperity, but that did not mean that we should not pray for God to use these times of trouble to bring a spirit of repentance into the nation.

I strongly believe in God’s promise given through Jeremiah: “If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned” (Jer 18:7).

I note that Jeremiah kept calling for repentance right up to the time when the Babylonian army surrounded the walls of Jerusalem: he knew that if the people put their trust in the Lord they would have been kept safe from the most powerful army in the world, even at that late hour. God would have done something at the last moment to save his people!

But the huge danger today is that many Bible-believing Christians have grown weary of the battle raging among our political masters. What came to me during my sleepless night was that many Christians do not understand the nature of the battle: it is not just a political battle, or a fight to save our democracy; it is part of a major spiritual conflict over the Judeo-Christian heritage – and future - of Western civilisation.

Many Christians do not understand the spiritual nature of the battle.

Spirit of Lawlessness

I believe we have reached a period in the history of the world where the most incredible spiritual battle is taking place - both in the heavenlies and upon earth - for the future influence of the biblical revelation of truth given through the advent, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

It may be that what we are seeing is the release of the ‘man of lawlessness’ to which Paul refers in 2 Thessalonians 2. The spirit of rebellion against God, together with the rapid rise of anti-Semitism and the increase in the persecution of Christians in all parts of the world, are symptoms of the great spiritual battle that is raging in our lifetime.

Button worn this week by demonstrators outside Parliament.

Paul warns believers not to underestimate the spiritual powers of darkness that are involved. He says “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph 6:12).

My fear is that most Christians do not understand the nature of this battle. They “have eyes but do not see…ears but do not hear” (Jer 5:21; also Mark 8:18). But Paul wrote that God’s plan was to use the ‘community of believers’ (the congregation of saints) “to make known the manifold wisdom of God to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Eph 3:10)!

Sounding the Call

If I am right in what I believe I am hearing in my quiet times, the world is rapidly moving into a period of incredible turmoil, with Europe and Israel at the centre of the battle. Once the civil war in Syria is over the attention of the Islamic world will turn to Israel and Britain needs to be free of European shackles if we are to respond as we should before God.

The greatest need today is for Bible-believing Christians, not only in Britain, but across the world, to recognise the nature of the battle and to seek the Lord for the right prayer strategy. Then, the forces of light may be mobilised by the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring his message of salvation to the nations and overcome the spirit of death that is driving the nations to destruction.

A trumpet call to prayer must be sounded among Christians – and we can all play our part in this.

A message for the Church.

No-one who saw the Grenfell fire on 14 June last year will forget it. It was a literal towering inferno that has had ramifications far beyond North Kensington. It cost the lives of 72 people, displaced not only the survivors but also hundreds who lived nearby and broke the reputation of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) as one of the best-run local councils in the country. More broadly, it exposed deep-seated problems of governance that have shaken the nation.

Over the forthcoming months, the Public Inquiry will reveal more that will no doubt embarrass (in different measures) the Fire Brigade, the Council, the Tenant Management Organisation, the 60+ contractors involved in the refurbishment, the Government department responsible for fire safety and standards, and no doubt a few Government ministers, as well as Parliament. Whether responsibility will be pinned on one or a few, or be much more widely spread, is conjecture. But it is clear that there were very many shortcomings, by many different organisations.

Precisely because of its size - it was the largest such tragedy in 25 years (Hillsborough and Aberfan are both comparable in terms of loss) - and the degree to which it dominated politics and the news for weeks after the fire had extinguished itself, Grenfell needs to be seen both politically and spiritually as a national event, raising national questions.

This is all the more so as - quite ‘coincidentally’ – further tower block fires broke out in Lewisham and Glasgow on the very anniversary of the Grenfell fire. Given that the main news on Thursday was the anniversary of Grenfell, it is as if God, in allowing two fires in similar buildings to break out that same day (although thankfully neither with fatalities) is really trying to get our attention.¹ But many may well have missed these news stories.

Grenfell needs to be seen both politically and spiritually as a national event, raising national questions.

Why Did God Allow Grenfell?

Why did God allow the Grenfell tragedy to occur? First, we need to stress that there was nothing particularly bad about those who died. In Luke 13, Jesus tells his listeners that those who died when the tower in Siloam fell were not worse sinners than others who dwelt in Jerusalem (verse 3). However, he is unequivocal in the following verse that his listeners nevertheless need to repent, lest they too perish.

In other words, the collapse of the Tower of Siloam was allowed by God in order to send a wider message of repentance to those looking on. Just so with Grenfell. Too few Christian leaders regularly acknowledge the degree to which we live in a fallen world, and repentance is a neglected concept. God is very holy and we are very much mired in our sin. We desperately need Jesus’s atoning death to pave the way for eternity.

I also believe God allowed Grenfell in order to expose the sin that lay behind the fire and its aftermath. In a previous article on this subject, I noted that if there was one sin of which RBKC (indeed, the UK as a whole) was perhaps guiltier than most, it was pride, itself the root of all sin.

Thousands join a silent march marking one year since the blaze.Additionally, I believe that God wants to get our attention, as believers and also as UK subjects. It is not his delight to punish, but to show mercy – he wants us to seek his face in serious repentance (not just with lip-service), that he might pour out forgiveness and that we might be restored. Undoubtedly, searching questions need to be asked: not just about who was to blame, but about our entire direction and destiny as a society.

For this reason, Grenfell is first and foremost a wake-up call to the Church, which in turn should bear the message of repentance to the nation. How the Church responds (or fail to respond) will have hugely significant consequences for Britain’s future destiny.

Emotion and Injustice

At a local level, the Church has a role to play in the aftermath of Grenfell which the Government simply cannot fulfil. In my previous article, I looked at the historic reasons for the lack of trust, lack of hope, latent anger and hatred which mark communities in and around Grenfell Tower. I explained that decades – even centuries – of deprivation and disenfranchisement now imbue this area with deeply felt emotions, made worse by the incredible affluence on display virtually next door, in the south of the Borough.

Grenfell is first and foremost a wake-up call to the Church, which in turn should bear the message of repentance to the nation.

But while these problems strike at the heart of Government, concerning as they do issues of decision-making, empowerment and stewardship of resources, they also involve complex social and spiritual problems that our secular Government is unable to properly address - and perhaps was never supposed to.

With a relatively narrow remit, we cannot expect the Inquiry to look into these things. This is where the Church must come in: we need to ask what the role of the Body of Christ should be, and how it can bring true hope and restoration into this situation, and more widely.

Re-Commitment Needed Desperately

As a result of wide-ranging criticisms, many RBKC councillors and staff have moved on and a governance review is underway. There is much yet to be done, but few serious observers would dispute that there has already been significant change.

Whether this could also be said of the local Church is a different matter. The churches immediately surrounding Grenfell Tower responded extremely well to the tragedy. However, their ecclesiology, missiology and theology vary so hugely (and in some cases are diametrically opposed), that the question needs to be asked whether they can all be meaningfully and genuinely Christian. This issue strikes at the heart of the direction in which different parts of the Church in Britain are progressing – and implicitly raises the question of what sort of a god they worship.

In my last article, I noted the need for a re-commitment to evangelism from both church leaders and ordinary Christians, all across the country. This point still stands. As the Public Inquiry has shown, many Grenfell Tower residents were Muslims. They need the true Jesus of the Bible just as much as do the wealthier across the Borough – as indeed does the country as a whole: it is the job of all churches to evangelise the lost – from whatever ethnic background or culture they are. Few of us have shared the Gospel as we should have done, with boldness and seizing all opportunities.

What is desperately needed is a wholehearted re-commitment from churches around the nation to God’s word and his purposes.

However, even a re-commitment to evangelism (while welcome) is not enough on its own. What is desperately needed is a wholehearted re-commitment from churches around the nation to God’s word and his purposes. This would transform not only our evangelism but much else besides – and empower the Church to respond to this tragedy prophetically, declaring its lessons to the nation, as well as serving locally.

The hour is late; the time has come for fearless proclamations of truth, made in the power of the Spirit of God, as well as demonstrations of God’s kingdom purposes - to say nothing of his love. The future of churches – indeed, entire denominations - that refuse this mandate is at stake, for “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matt 7:19; also John 15:2).

A Wake-Up Call

While much else besides, Grenfell was a wake-up call to a slumbering Church which has lost its way. The true Church – the Bride of Christ - needs to discern the wider significance of the tragedy and the necessity of repentance just as much as those not yet in the Kingdom.

Many churches local to Grenfell have given fully of themselves and are still doing all that they can. But given that this is a national tragedy, it should be the case that churches across the country are also willing to help as needed – one obvious way being in helping to carry the burden of prayer and intercession: for hope and healing, for repentance and forgiveness, and for the fullness of God’s purposes to be worked out, including through the Inquiry.

The cost of the fire will be borne by survivors until they themselves die, and will continue to mark our society even after. But if Grenfell’s stark warnings about the nation’s precarious position before God cannot be learned and applied soon, it is undoubtedly the case that further destruction will follow. If we do not listen to God’s words, we will have to endure his works: the former may be challenging - the latter much more so.

Leading the way here, declaring the warning and holding out the offer of mercy to a lost nation, should be the true Church of God! If the Church senses the great urgency of the hour and responds as the Father wills, there is yet opportunity for great positive transformation in Britain that would, in some measure, mitigate the indescribable loss of Grenfell.

References

1 See news articles from the BBC, The Guardian and The Telegraph, for example.

Further Reading

Previous article on this subject: Reflections on the Grenfell Tower Fire. Prophecy Today UK, 15 December 2017.

Everett, A, Rev, 2018. After the Fire, Finding words for Grenfell. Canterbury Press, Norwich.

O'Hagan, A. The Tower. London Review of Books.

Faith toward God.

We now come to the second truth in the foundational series. Having turned from dead works, that is everything not initiated by God, we are called to a life which looks to God for everything - totally trusting him - for, “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Heb 11:6).

When a person first becomes a Christian he usually has very little knowledge of God or his Son Jesus Christ. The Christian life is a continual exploration of the knowledge of God. Obviously you cannot trust anyone you do not know well, and the more you get to know God the more you can trust him.

Faith toward God develops and grows by us using the means available to us to increase in this knowledge. Daniel the Prophet wrote, “the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits, and those of the people who understand shall instruct many” (Dan 11:32-33, NKJV). Next week we will pursue the means by which we get to know God, but this week let us briefly consider the subject of faith itself.

Faith unto Salvation

In the Bible, faith is spoken of in three main ways. First, what is termed ‘saving faith’, is the initial faith which brings us into relationship with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul puts it this way, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no-one can boast” (Eph 2:2-3).

Although one can be told the Gospel message which is “the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Rom 1:16), it is not possible to explain fully what happens when a person believes. Salvation is a miracle and you cannot explain miracles because they are supernatural.

The whole Godhead is operative when a person comes to Christ:

• Father: Jesus said, “No-one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:44).
• Son: God draws us to Christ. The Lord Jesus gives us eternal life. He said. “For you granted him [Jesus] authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him” (John 17:2).
• Holy Spirit: When Jesus was talking to Nicodemus, he told him that it was the Holy Spirit who brings about the new birth, “I tell you the truth, unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit” (John 3:5-6). The Holy Spirit convicts of sin and when we respond to the Gospel message he comes to dwell within us, thus giving us life.

Although we cannot explain it we know that when we responded to the conviction of sin and came to that place where we were ready to turn from sin, believing that Jesus died and rose again and willing to submit to his Lordship, God gave us the faith by which to receive his Son, Jesus. No wonder the writer to the Hebrews describes it as, ‘so great a salvation’.

The Christian life is a continual exploration of the knowledge of God.

Faith by Which to Live

Second, there is faith by which to live. We have seen that when we become a Christian the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us, and the “fruit of the Spirit is faith”. Not only is there a God-given faith by which to come to the Lord Jesus, but also a God-given faith to live the Christian life: "the righteous will live by faith".

Our faith is in God, who is the Faithful One. God can be trusted because of the perfection of his character. It is impossible for God to lie. It is impossible for God ever to do one thing which is unrighteous or unfair.

Circumstances can come into our lives which we do not understand and God is not obliged to give us an explanation of everything that happens. “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow the words of this law” (Deut 29:29). But even though we sometimes cannot understand, we can be totally confident in the fact that as long as we seek to live in obedience, then “we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28).

Jeremiah the Prophet, out of his experience of trusting God, proclaimed “His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lam 3:22-23).

The Bible contains a great many stories which confirm God’s reliability. A few examples are the miracle of the partings of the Red Sea and the River Jordan; the feeding of over two million people each day in a wilderness; the sun standing still in the days of Joshua; the closing of the mouths of lions in the den where Daniel was incarcerated; the miracles of Jesus; his resurrection, and so many more. God will allow or ordain circumstances in all of our lives to show us what a wonderful Father he is and how much he loves and cares for us so that we can fully trust him.

The Gift of Faith

Third, there is what is termed ‘the gift of faith’. This is included in the list Paul gives in 1 Corinthians 12 when he is leaching on the different kinds of gifts of the Holy Spirit. The gift of faith is a supernatural endowment of faith given by God for some specific circumstance, or need, or event.

This gift was obviously given to Peter and John while they were both going to the Temple after the day of Pentecost. There at the gate was a crippled beggar who asked them for money. Peter said to him, “Look at us…silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk. Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk” (Acts 3:11-8).

God will allow or ordain circumstances in all of our lives to show us what a wonderful Father he is and how much he loves and cares for us so that we can fully trust him.

This special gift is sometimes given to initiate some work or mission, such as the establishment of orphanages by George Muller in Bristol; the launching of the China Inland Mission by Hudson Taylor, etc. It can be given by God to remove some mountain, some obstacle. It can be given to you as he sees necessary for some specific purpose or ministry.

The next step is to explore how we can go on to know this wonderful, powerful, loving, just, and faithful God.

Next week: Exercising faith to know God better.

This article is part of a series, first published as a booklet in 1992. It has been edited for online publication. Click here for previous instalments.

Now’s the time for Christians to nail their colours to the mast

Bearing in mind the obvious success of President Trump’s ‘Don’t mess with me’ strategy in getting dictators to the negotiating table, surely lessons can be learnt from this. It certainly gives a whole new meaning to ‘playing the trump card’.

But the stubborn Europeans refuse to take note, or even learn from history. Did not Jesus say that wisdom - and recognition of his Lordship in particular - was hidden from “the wise”, but revealed to “little children” (Matt 11:25)?

I am more staggered than ever at the lengths to which the British Government will go to appease dictators since learning for the first time last Saturday that the England football team had, in 1938, raised a Nazi salute to Hitler in front of a crowd of 105,000 before a friendly match against Germany in Berlin – on the orders of the Foreign Office!¹

This was apparently designed to pave the way for Neville Chamberlain’s efforts to appease the Fuehrer, instead of squaring up to him as Churchill was later to do.

Fearing Man, Not God

This shameful (1938) episode in Britain’s history was a natural progression of her foreign policy in bending over backwards to keep the Arabs happy throughout the 1920s and 30s when she was supposed to be preparing a home for the Jewish people.

Buckling under the pressure of Muslim-inspired riots over the prospect of a Jewish nation in their midst, Britain betrayed both her international obligation and her own Balfour Declaration promising to do all she could to ensure that Zionist aspirations were met.

I am more staggered than ever at the lengths to which the British Government will go to appease dictators.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict could well have been nipped in the bud if we had acted with more integrity and courage. And after all these years, Britain is still batting for the wrong side by refusing to follow President Trump’s lead in recognising Jerusalem as the Jewish capital.

Fear of Muslim-Arab fury, rather than pleasing God in blessing Israel, once again turns us into cowards presiding over the potential ruin of our country (see Isa 60:12).

Not Taking Danger Seriously

Theresa May and her European allies are also refusing to take President Trump (and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu) seriously over the danger posed by Iran, insisting on sticking to the Obama-led nuclear deal designed to keep the lid on the rogue state’s weapons build-up.

The Ayatollah’s threat of removing and eradicating the “malignant cancerous tumour” he calls Israel² is shrugged off in a manner reminiscent of the 1930s, when Hitler’s rantings were not taken seriously.

Mr Netanyahu says it is “amazing that at the beginning of the 21^st century, somebody talks about destroying Israel – that means destroying another six million-plus Jews…”³

This is the same country that was behind the bombing of the Buenos Aires Jewish community centre in 1994, leaving 85 dead, an atrocity that has blighted Argentina ever since.

Our weakness with Iran seems to chime with our stance on its terrorist proxy Hezbollah who, last Sunday, were once again free to parade their hate-filled views on Israel through the streets of London despite ongoing calls for a ban.

Refusing to apply an outright ban on the organization (in recognising separate political and military wings which Hezbollah itself does not acknowledge) is not only encouraging ‘hate speech’ which is supposed to be illegal, but is obviously against the interests of our 300,000-strong Jewish community, as well as Israel.⁴

Fear of Muslim-Arab fury, rather than pleasing God in blessing Israel, turns us into cowards presiding over the potential ruin of our country. 

Lessons from East and West

By sanctioning the belligerence of those who seek Israel’s demise, we are certainly not being a blessing to the seed of Abraham, and are thus in grave danger of bringing a curse upon our nation (Gen 12:3). We at least have a chance to begin putting things right later this month when Prince William makes the first ever official visit to Israel from a British royal.

Can we not learn from Brazil where, just a fortnight ago, two million Christians took to the streets of Sao Paulo for their annual March for Jesus? According to one report, the crowd were waving Israeli flags while cheering and praying for the Jewish state.⁵

For the first time in nearly 20 years of the event, Jewish officials were invited to attend. Addressing the gathering, Israel’s consul Dori Goren said: “Attending the march is our way to express our gratitude for the evangelical people and the Brazilian people.”

Argentinian evangelist Andrew Palau, son of Luis, preached the Gospel and a “sea of hands” were raised in response to his call to faith and repentance.

We can also learn from ordinary Iranians, tens of thousands of who have also expressed support for Israel in a Twitter campaign to distance themselves from the opinions of their own regime.⁶

Standing Up for Truth

Christians who know their Bible and are committed to following Jesus are also serious about their love for Jews. For it was they who gave us the patriarchs, the prophets, the Bible itself and indeed the Lord Jesus.

Since God consistently proclaims his unfailing love for his chosen people despite their repeated backsliding, Bible believers naturally follow the same path so that it becomes the case that if you love Jesus, you find yourself also loving the Jew.

Christians are those who follow Jesus – “despised and rejected of men” (Isa 53:3) – and are thus prepared to suffer abuse and ridicule as he did. In the same way they will also be ready to wave Israeli flags, which is to swim very much against the tide in almost every generation.

True Christians are happy to nail their colours to the mast – and to support the real victims of society, not necessarily those groups beloved of our politically-correct world.

True Christians are happy to nail their colours to the mast – and to support the real victims of society, not necessarily those groups beloved of our politically-correct world.

So why do British Christians (on the whole) not get the connection between following Jesus and befriending the Jews? Could it perhaps be something to do with Pentecost, which I touched on last week? For Jesus explained that the Holy Spirit, poured out at Pentecost, would “guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13).

And he also said: “Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels” (Luke 9:26).

Notes

1 Daily Mail, 8 June 2018. A copy of the infamous ‘Nazi salute’ photo, reproduced in last Saturday’s Daily Mail, was sent to Britain’s Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson from his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in response to Johnson’s suggestion that Russia was using the World Cup for propaganda purposes in the same way that Hitler had done with the 1936 Olympics.

2 Jerusalem News Network, quoting Medialine/Jerusalem Post, 6 June 2018. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, later sought to clarify his position by saying that the conflict should be resolved through a referendum among “all real Palestinians including Muslims, Jews and Christians” who trace their roots back to before the creation of Israel in 1948. World Israel News & Associated Press, 11 June 2018.

3 An obvious reference to the Holocaust and the fact that more than six million Jews now live in Israel – Ibid.

4 Reports that Home Secretary Sajid Javid is to “proscribe Hezbollah in full later this year” have raised hopes that the terrorist group will be completely banned in the UK in response to a 17,000-strong petition. Christians United for Israel UK, 13 June 2018.

5 Gateway News, South Africa, 7 June 2018.

6 Jewish News Syndicate, 13 June 2018.

Charles Gardner reviews RT Kendall’s new book.

‘Whatever happened to the Gospel?’ is a question I have been asking for some time. And it is now the title of a brilliant new book by much-loved author and preacher RT Kendall, published by Charisma House.

In a very timely expose of the superficiality and error of much of Western Christianity, RT (short for Robert Tillman) attempts to rouse the Church from its slumbers with a passionate wake-up call.

Eternity Matters

Wielding his sharp, perceptive pen with the skill of a writer very much in tune with the Bible’s Author, he shows how the fear of God has been largely lost, with heaven and hell hardly ever mentioned from the pulpit.

John the Baptist, who prepared the way for the ministry of Jesus, spoke of the “wrath to come” when people flocked from miles around to hear him.

The neglect of preaching on hell, in particular, has lulled generations of believers and would-be Christians into a false sense of security, and to a lack of urgency in proclaiming the Gospel to a dying world.

This is a timely expose of the superficiality and error of much of Western Christianity.

We are too often allowed to bask in the sunshine of our Western comfort and prosperity with teaching about making the most of life in the here-and-now, rather than urgent calls to rescue those in danger of perishing in eternal fire.

After all, RT argues, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life” – the words of Jesus himself (John 3:16, my emphasis added). It’s surely a matter of everlasting life or death. The wrath of God is coming upon all ungodliness and wickedness, and the only way of escape is through the blood of Jesus. This is the Gospel – not health and wealth, prosperity, social outreach or even happiness on this earth.

Not Ashamed

It’s a thrilling read – punchy, shocking, beautifully written, honest and full of fascinating anecdotes. The author is not afraid to tell stories against himself; he owns up to having made many mistakes but, as he says, he would stake his life on the truth expounded in this volume.

The Church urgently needs to rediscover the main thing!

I am greatly indebted to friends from London who sent me a copy, but not before travelling across the capital to get RT to sign it. Alongside his signature, he noted down the Bible reference Romans 1:16, which says: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes; first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.”

‘Whatever Happened to the Gospel’ (240pp) is available on Amazon and elsewhere online, in paperback, Kindle and audio forms.

Please note that a review from Prophecy Today UK concerns the book only: in no way does it constitute support for official book endorsers such as shown on the image above.