Observation

Observations; Matthew chapter 9

A thing or two that I noticed in this chapter is in verse 18.This is where a ruler came to Jesus and worshiped him and ask Jesus to come and lay his hand upon his daughter so that she might live.

Matt. 9:18 – “lay your hand upon her and she shall live.”

Jesus proceeded to the home and on the way a woman touched the hem of his garment.

Matt. 9:20 – “touched the hem of His garment.”

Matt. 9:21 – “For she said within herself, If I may but touch the hem of His garment, I shall be whole.”

Each of these were looking for a physical touch of the Lord. If you notice what Jesus said to the woman, “thy faith made thee whole.” With the maid, she could not express her faith or acknowledge the presence of Jesus. The father expressed his faith through worship and the confidence expressed by the statement “lay your hand upon her.” It was not the touch of Jesus. It was the faith exhibited by two people. One had faith that God could heal his daughter by laying his hand on her. The lady had the faith that touching the hem of His garment. It was not the touch that healed. It was the faith that each had. It is the same with salvation. Our faith makes us whole, healed of the disease of sin. Faith in the Lord cleanses us and makes us fit subjects of heaven.

What is Faithful?

Firm in adherence to the truth and to the duties of the Word of God.

Firmly adhering to duty; of true fidelity; loyal; true to allegiance; as a faithful subject.

Constant in the performance of duties or services; exact in attending to commands; as a faithful servant.

“A faithful man shall abound with blessings:” – Proverbs 28:20 KJB

“ . . . be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” Rev 2:10c

Faith

FAITH

Romans 10:17; Ephesians 2:8; Hebrews 11:6

How often we hear, “have faith.” How infrequently we demonstrate our faith. Faith is the first step to salvation, a relationship with Jesus. We find that “. . . faith cometh by hearing.” God has provided for the hearing of the word by building His church during His time here on earth. Therefore we have this instruction, “ . . . and hearing by the word of God.” This publishes the importance of hearing the word of God. That means attendance to the Lord’s church. Yet we must be sure that what is preached from the pulpit is the word of God. That demands that we carry the word of God and follow the scriptures that are used. Here is that scripture; “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17 KJB

We have faith as a basis for salvation. Without faith there is no salvation. With our faith, God gives us a free gift of forgiveness of sin. Salvation is completely dependant upon the grace of God. His grace has provide a means to establish a relationship. When we have faith we can be saved and become a child of God. Here is the scripture; “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” Ephesians 2:8 KJB

“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.” Hebrews 11:6 KJB Do you believe in God?If you do believe in God, do you want to please God? That means you must exercise your faith in God. Be saved and then through hearing the word, increase our faith. The more time we spend in the word and hearing the word, the more our faith will increase. My prayer, Lord increase my faith.

COURAGE

Joshua 1:9; Daniel 3:16,17; Philippians 1:28

I am reminded of that old saying, “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” There is an element of truth in this saying. What I have observed is, courage is not a reckless abandonment without due consideration. When we see anyone rush into a burning building, it is not reckless abandonment but with quick deliberation and an understanding that great harm might come to the rescuer. Courage is not the abandonment of all sense, but the consideration of the possibility of harm.

In the consideration of our position with God through His Son Jesus Christ, we do not abandon all sense as we live our lives in a Godly manner and witness for Him. Joshua received a word of encouragement in Joshua 1:9 “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” We have the support that others do not have. Through prayer, before we enter the fray, God is right there with us to support us in all of our endeavors to witness to lost and saved alike. Why did I say the saved? Because of some that are saved stray or fall back and we need strength, courage, and wisdom to go to and encourage them. The lost we understand but sometimes we forget about those that have backslidden.

Our adversaries love to see us as weak and uncertain. While teaching seminary, I instructed students that when they came to one of those words in the Old Testament that they were not sure of how to pronounce, instead of muddling around and hemming and hawing, simply say it with authority. Many, who think they know how to say it will say hmmm, maybe he is right. Understand, I am not saying to speak salvation in ignorance or any other doctrine for that matter. Know the plan of salvation and support scripture. Know doctrine and support scripture. Then say it with authority instead of being mealy-mouthed in our discussion. There are certain things we should be masters in knowledge. In Ephesians 6 we are told to stand. I love the answer of the three Hebrew children in Daniel 3:16,17 “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. 17. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. This passage thrills me to no end. The part of the answer where they say, “. . . we are not careful to answer thee. . . “ this thrills me to my tippy toes. They are saying, we don’t have to think about our answer, we don’t have to consult each other about our answer, we don’t even have to pray about it because we know God’s answer already. NO,NO,NO. These young men were standing as Joshua was told to stand and be courageous. There is another part to this answer that I also love, “If it be so. . . “. Let me tell you about the power of our God. If He wants to deliver us, He will. If He does not want to deliver us, that is ok also. We will not lose our trust and faith in God. Do what you want and what you think you can king. We are prepared.

Preachers, Pastors, we are called to be courageous and to stand. I have communicated with a number of you that are dissatisfied with how some things are slipping among our churches. I have heard the terms, fed up, wrong, things amiss and a few other things. There seems to be a fear that one might be ostracized or shunned to speak up with courage and take a stand. May I restate a common scripture, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” Let me add this, who cares who is against us. A good preacher friend of mine, solid scripturally, accepted the pastorate of a small Southern Baptist Church. His thought was to teach and preach the truth to this church and bring it into our work. All the time he pastored this church, they never observed the Lord’s Supper. After several years he came to the realization, that he would never achieve his goal and resigned. He came to me and said, I want to join your church, I know you are the pastor and I will always support you. My reply, why not pastor Brother. He said I have been blackballed in our local and national association. My reply, welcome brother. Maybe it is my age, maybe I am just ignorant. I simply believe in the Word of God and believe that if we don’t take a stand today, tomorrow may be too late. Paul said to the Philippian Brothers, Philippians 1:28 “And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.” Every member and every preacher and pastor is called to stand and be of great courage. I challenge you to stand for the scripture truth and follow many of our forefathers in the battle for God.

ANSWERED PRAYER

I Kings 18:37; Psalm 91:15; Luke 11:9

Prayer should be an important element in our life. I do believe that those pray regularly see their prayers answered. When all others around us are discourage and turning their back on God, prayer warriors are sorely needed. Elijah was a prayer warrior. God strengthened him for what God needed him to do. His prayer was not loud and boisterous nor self-centered. It was simply sent through heavens gates to touch the ear of God almighty. It was a simple request for the demonstration of God’s great and mighty power in consuming a water drench sacrifice offered to God. Such a simple prayer. “Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou aret the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.” Would it not be wonderful to hear this prayer offered of an evening to God that this day, may the hearts of the people be turned back to God?

God has made a promise to us. “He shall call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.” When we make the Lord our habitation, our dwelling place and continually turn to Him, we find that he knows us. We become familiar because He is our heavenly father and desires to cover us with His wings according to verse 4 of the 91 st. Psalm. Verse 11 speaks of His angels he has charged to keep us in our ways. Through our simple prayers, not only can we communicate with God, but we can plead with Him to change the hearts of people that have turned away from Him.

We need the faith to ask, seek and knock. The desire of our heavenly father is that His people will turn to Him. His desire is that the lost be saved by trusting in His Son, Jesus Christ. May we raise a chorus of prayers to heaven that the Holy Spirit will touch hearts today, convict the lost of their need for a savior, and that those that have grown cold will yield and turn to serve. What is your prayer today?

Faith

Feed your faith and your doubts will starve to death.

THE AGE OF EXPERIMENTATION

William Andrew Dillard

Just imagine a world in which clocks and calendars were either non-existent or largely meaningless if they did exist. This world would host men of great talent in musical arts, metal craft, animal husbandry, etc. Moreover, this imaginary world existed in an ideal climate all year long, century after century. Additionally, there were not a lot of regulatory laws, making human freedom the best humanity has ever enjoyed. Furthermore, the diseases that plague humanity today were unknown in this pristine environment. Does this sound divine; too good to be true; something that could only exist in one’s imagination? Well think again!
The world under consideration did in fact exist for a long 1656 years, from Adam to Noah. The antediluvian world though devoid of most conveniences enjoyed today, had a lot going for it including individual longevity approaching one thousand years. It could be called the age of experimentation. What will sinful mankind do, left largely to himself? Will he be grateful for his blessings, and seek after his Creator? Will he respect himself and his neighbor, and seek to make a better world for himself and his offspring?
In Genesis Chapter Six, God looked down to see what was going on in the world of men. What He saw was corruption; moral degradation, base sensuality reigning as king in an epicurean, drunken, sex crazy world. It was a world of faithlessness. Thus, it repented Him that He had made the human race, and He determined to destroy it.
Today, in spite of vaunted progress, the world is quite similar to that ancient society. It is a sign. Jesus said that when He comes again, the world will be as it was in the days of Noah. Matt 24:37-39.
But consider that it is not the absence of sin that divinity seeks in mankind. That is impossible. But it is the presence of faith. When the Son of man shall come, will He find faith on the earth? Luke 18:8. In the absence of faith, men, nations, and the world are wrong, and they degenerate into the sensual, violent quagmire of Noah’s day.
The good news is that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Noah was a man of faith; a righteous man, perfect in his generations. It would be his lot to inherit a new world, a new beginning. Do you see a pattern here? People of faith in God and His eternal Word will inherit the universe with Christ Jesus, while those who submerge themselves in base pleasures of the flesh are destined to loss of life’s reward at best and eternal condemnation at worse. How much of your life is given to matters of faith in God and His Word? Every person is either contributing to the cause of Christ and goodness in the world or else to the cause of Satan and evil in the world. Sin cannot be eliminated from our world, but it can be repented of, and faith can find a dwelling and growing place in human hearts. The age of experimentation is history, but it bears unerring witness of an inevitable conclusion. In keeping with the pattern of the ages: in the absence of faith, no one may be right in the sight of God.

FAITH

Faith is the medium of exchange in heaven.

If you need an answer to prayer,

spend a little faith.

Adrian Rogers

BEYOND KNOWING: TRUSTING!

(THE IMPORTANT MIXTURE OF FAITH)

William Andrew Dillard

“Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.” Hebrew 4:1-2
How great is the good news! It is fraught with promises of wonderful things which God has for those who believe Him and follow Him. The context of Hebrews Chapter Four necessitates the inclusion of the last few verses of Chapter Three. Here, ancient Israel is held up as an example of warning to modern day church saints. It speaks of the generation of Hebrews that came out of Egyptian bondage, but who refused to exercise faith in the promises of God, by which they were denied His rest and the blessings of the Promised Land.
Notice the symbolism (1 Cor.10:1-11): Delivered by the blood; baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; traversing desert wasteland under the protection and provisions of God to the Promised Land; crossing Jordan River to enter the new land, the new life. Those symbols are recognized today as our deliverance by the blood, baptism in water to walk in newness of life; traversing the desert of this worldly life; crossing our Jordan of death to enter His rest and all of its attendant blessings.
So the writer of Hebrews says that both they and us are recipients of the gospel (good news). “But the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.” 
Then, the warning: “Let us therefore fear…” You see, it is one thing to be spiritually saved, and quite another to exercise faith in following God. The Hebrews were saved, baptized people, but died because of a lack of faith. The important phrase is “…not being mixed with faith…” 
Today, there are a lot of people who are saved, but who are not hearing the Word with that all important mixture of faith. They are often regular church attenders, but church means little more than a civic club or a social event. Soon, such religious practices become dull, boring, and the probability of falling by the wayside looms imminent.
In the ancient language, “being mixed with” is a composite of two words, “together,” plus “to mingle or mix”. Let there be no misunderstanding of the lesson. Those who receive the promises are not those who hear them or can quote them only, but those who believe them with all their heart. With all of your Bible knowledge, do you have this underscored mixture of faith in the Word?

Proof of God

If GOD wanted to prove Himself, He could roll back the heavens and make Himself known with a display of His grandeur, might, and glory. however, such displays would render FAITH unnecessary. – Adrian Rogers