A university is an educational institution of higher education and
research designed for instruction, examination, or both, of students in
many branches of advanced learning. It provides academic degrees upon
the completion of any variety of subjects offered. It also provides both
undergraduate education and postgraduate education. God has a
university. However, it is small and very few enroll and even fewer
graduate. He has this university because He has very few broken men and
women. Instead, what He seems to have is people who claim to be broken
but really aren't.
David, son of Jesse is a great example of one who not only enrolled but
also graduated God University. Shortly after David defeated Goliath and
returned home, "the women had come out of all the cities of Israel,
singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and
with musical instruments. So the women sang as they danced, and said:
“Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” Then Saul
was very angry, and the saying displeased him..." (1 Samuel 18:6-8) "The
next day that the distressing spirit came upon Saul, and he prophesied
inside the house. So David played music with his hand, as at other
times; but there was a spear in Saul’s hand. And Saul cast the spear,
for he said, “I will pin David to the wall!” But David escaped his
presence twice." (1 Samuel 18:10-11)
What do you do if someone throws a spear at you? Would you pick it
up and throw it back? Well David did not
throw Saul's spear back at him nor did he go out and make his own spear
to throw at him. David simply escaped Saul's presence. If David were to
respond to Saul by throwing a spear at him, David the shepherd boy,
anointed by God to be king would have grown up to be nothing more than
King Saul II. Although Saul sought to destroy David, he actually became
the very instrument of God that would eventually mold David to become a
man after God's own heart. (Acts 13:22)
David accepted his fate. He embraced the circumstances although unfair
and even cruel. He lifted no hand nor offered any resistance. Even when
David had the opportunity to retaliate and take Saul's life he would
not. He would not return evil for evil even when prompted. "Then
Abishai said to David, “God has delivered your enemy into your hand this
day. Now therefore, please, let me strike him at once with the spear,
right to the earth; and I will not have to strike him a second time! But
David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him; for who can stretch out his
hand against the Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless?" (1 Samuel 26:8-9)
How about you? When others throw spears at you in the form of evil
speaking, gossip, slander or when they treat you with disrespect; how do
you respond? Do you throw spears back? or do you exercise the most
potent characteristic of our God, which is love, toward those who may do
these things? The Bible tells us, "Love suffers long and is kind;
love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does
not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no
evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all
things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love
never fails..." (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)
Believers that walk in this kind of love,
agape, the God kind of love are those like David who have enrolled and
graduated from God University. The Apostle Paul tells us, "Now hope
does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our
hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us." (Romans 5:5) The God
kind of love is a part of the recreated human spirit that becomes a
part of the believer the moment they confess and believe the Lordship of
Jesus Christ. However, just like David had the choice to retaliate but
chose not to, walking out the God kind of love is the same. In the mind of God, those who choose this path truly
understand brokenness and selflessness. They have graduated God
University because they know the power of love.
Monday, June 6, 2022
The University Of Love
Monday, May 30, 2022
Every Day is Memorial Day
Today, is the fourth Monday of the month of May and in the United
States it is a national holiday entitled, Memorial Day. It is a day in
which Americans remember the service men and women who paid the ultimate
sacrifice of giving their lives so that others may have freedom.
They did not give their lives for the United States alone, but as they
fought and died in the numerous conflicts throughout the world, they did
it to bring an end to demonized dictators who enjoy(ed) killing, like
Satan their father, have only one desire, to have power. They fought and
died to turn back these satanic ruled people whose only objective was
to steal, kill, destroy and or hold in bondage to slavery their fellow
man in efforts to promote their tyrannical reign. Let us never forget
those in the armed forces who have gone before and those today who are
ready to do what it takes to defend and protect the citizens of the
United States of America.
In a
similar way, Christians also have a Memorial Day. However, our Memorial
Day is not only a day of remembrance, but a day of celebration. We
celebrate the day that we "confessed with our mouth the Lord Jesus and believed in our heart that God has raised Him from the dead, and were saved."
(Romans 10:9) We celebrate the fact the Jesus Christ also paid the
ultimate sacrifice by giving His life to save (redeem, heal, deliver,
make whole) all humanity from Satan, the most evil, murderous tyrant
known to man. The Bible reveals to us, "How God anointed Jesus of
Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good
and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him." (Acts 10:38) and "He
who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning.
For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy
the works of the devil." (1 John 3:8)
When we
consider what Jesus did for mankind the mind can hardly comprehend it.
The apostle Paul reveals to us through the Holy Spirit, "Therefore,
just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin,
and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned (Romans 5:12) and speaking of the state of all men since the fall, “…having no hope and without God in the world.”
(Ephesians 2:12) This means that not one person in all of mankind had
the ability to provide redemption. God Himself must provide man’s
redemption. God must redeem man from the dominion of Satan. Death must
be destroyed and man’s authority over the Satan must also be restored.
We also must keep in mind that God is just, "…God is abundant in justice…” (Job
37:23) and therefore mankind could only be redeemed on absolute legal
grounds. Even though God's love for man is unfathomable and the fact
that He is also sovereign, He could not redeem man outside the realm of
justice.
God would have to provide a substitute who
would not have man’s satanic fallen nature but would be like Adam. He
could not be mortal or immortal, but a perfect man as Adam was before
the fall. He must fulfill the entire Mosaic Law, withstand the onslaught
of all the devils attacks without sin, meet the demands of justice,
(meaning that He would have to pay the penalty for man’s crimes against
God) by suffering in man's place by becoming sin, "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us..." (2
Corinthians 5:21) Being make sin the Redeemer would be separated from
the presence of God by going to hell, which is the ultimate penalty for sin, until mankind had been fully
and legally acquitted for their crime. In other words, Deity must suffer
for humanity.
As Adam die both spiritually and physically ("a death you shall die," or, "dying you shall die." Genesis 2:17 Hebrew) and "and they made His grave with the wicked, but with the rich at His death..."(Isaiah 53:3 deaths
in the Hebrew) Jesus too would have to experience both to reverse
Adam's transgression. If Jesus' physical death was all that was required
to redeem humanity, then sin is nothing more than a physical condition.
If physical death deals with the sin issue, then every person that
physically dies pays the penalty of his/her own sin. If sin is only a
physical condition and can be dealt with through physical death, then we
must conclude that God has no right to send someone to hell because the
physical death of every person would be sufficient to satisfy justice
and give them a pass to eternal life.
However, we know
that this is not true. Jesus must suffer in both realms, physically and
spiritually. Physically because that is the only way that spiritually
dead humanity could eliminate the Son of God; spiritually, because it’s
the only way that God could legally redeem man taking away Satan’s claim
to humanity. It also stops man from accusing God of being unjust when
they reject His way of redemption. Jesus indeed went to hell and
suffered as a substitute for all mankind. His physical death was
infinitesimal to what He suffered in the spiritual realm. If humanity
could have been redeemed apart from Christ, then Jesus becoming a
substitute for humanity and being sent to hell would have become the
most heinous crime ever committed in all of creation.
But
thanks be to God who was willing to take upon Himself man's liability
by suffering an incomprehensible death in two realms as man's
substitute. So let us never forget what the Father did through Jesus to
give humanity complete freedom from Satan's power. Let us never forget and rejoice continually on our Memorial Day. The day you and I were born again.
Monday, May 23, 2022
I Am Independent of My Circumstances
Did you ever take a particular amount of money and intentionally put it
aside for some reason, but forgot that you did it and also where you put
it? I know I have and probably many of you have done the same. However,
sometime later, you decided to do some extended cleaning or maybe just
going through some personal items and found the money that you had put
away and in your surprise you thought, "Where did that come from" or "I
did not know that I had that."
Interestingly enough, you really cannot say "Where did that come from"
or "I did not know that I had that" because you actually had the money.
The only issue is, the money did not do you any good because you did not
know you had it. Although this is something that happens in the
natural, for many the same thing happens to them in the spiritual. When
it come to spiritual things the thinking is, "If the Bible says it, it
is automatically mine." This is only true to a point. The Apostle Paul
states, "For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us." (2 Corinthians 1:20) Yes, the promises of God through Christ belong to believers, but have believers exercised faith to receive them, or are they only hidden somewhere in the Word of God.
God has given us His Word so that we would take the time to discover what we have been given through our faith
in Jesus Christ. A good example of this would be eternal life. A person
can have eternal life because one day they confessed with their mouth
and believed in their heart the Lord Jesus Christ and not really know
depths of eternal life. Their thinking maybe, "Thank you Lord that I am
saved and now when I die I'll go to heaven." This is true, but you will
not enjoy the reality of eternal life in this life because you do not
know its depths or what it is suppose to do for you.
Many of the lyrics in our hymns and songs today speak of eternal life as
a destination and not an instant transformation of ones old nature to
the new nature in Christ. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through
Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation." (2
Corinthians 5:17-18) This is the miracle of becoming born again. The
Apostle Paul is not talking about ones body or soul, he is talking about
the spirit, "the hidden man of the heart." (1 Peter 3:4)
According to scripture, Jesus came to earth for many reasons, "to seek and saved that which was lost" (Luke 19:10); "To bear witness of the truth" (John 18:37); "To give His life a ransom for many"
(Mark 10:45) and so on. But He also came for another incredible reason
that many have not come to understand nor walk in the reality of, "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." (John
10:10) The word "life" here is the Greek word, "Zoe." That is the God
kind of life; eternal life. The reality is, the moment that one is born
again, God imparted His very nature into our human spirit. We are in
Christ. Christ is in us. We have the nature of God. We have the life of
God.
The Apostle Paul tells us, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is
no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now
live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and
gave Himself for me." (Galatians 2:20) Notice that Paul tells us how
to fully come to the understanding of and how to take advantage of the
believers new life, eternal life, in Christ. We are to live by faith
in Christ. In other words, what God says in His Word is one hundred
percent true. It does not change with time because He does not change
(Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8) and we can put our faith in the integrity of
His unchanging Word and not only understand what abundant life in
Christ is, but also live in it in this life.
In short, living in abundant life is believing on and acting upon God's
Word no matter what the circumstances of life may try to dictate,
especially when they are contrary to God's Word. The Apostle Paul tells
us how he lived in Christ, "For I, however I am placed, have learned to be independent of circumstances." (Philippians 4:11 TCNT) We can experience the abundant life that Jesus gave His life for, by exercising our faith and as Paul did, "learn to be independent of circumstances." It really isn't as difficult as it may seem, if we can remember as Paul, "I can do everything in the strength of Him (Christ) who makes me strong." (Philippians 4:13)
Monday, May 16, 2022
The Blood of The New Covenant
The
greatest covenant in the history of mankind was made, established and
fulfilled by God Himself. It is called the New Covenant. In short, God
the Word became flesh (John 1:1, 14) and we called Him Jesus. (Luke
1:31) He stepped our of eternity and into time with a purpose, "...to give His life a ransom for many."
(Matthew 20:28) However, in the purpose of God, covenant between Him
and man required the shedding of blood. (Hebrews 9:22) We see the first
covenant established at the fall of man, where an innocent animal was
sacrificed to cover man nakedness. (Genesis 3:21)
Looking forward, we see a man named Abram, a man in whom God would cut covenant
with. God appears to Abram and proclaims, "I Am Almighty God." (Genesis
17:1) However, before God entered into covenant with Abram, He changed
his name to Abraham (a prince of God). (Genesis 17:5) He then set the
conditions of the covenant, "This is My covenant which you shall
keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male
child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in
the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant
between Me and you." (Genesis 17:10-11)
The covenant was
sealed by the blood shed in circumcision. This covenant bound Abraham
and his descendants by indissoluble ties to Almighty God and it bound
Almighty God to Abraham and His descendants. As covenant partners, all
that was Abraham's was also God's and all that was God's would be
Abraham's. Also in the Old Covenant, God gave Abraham's descendants the
Mosaic Law. Within this covenant God appointed a priesthood with a High
Priest. The priesthood was given the atonement offering known as The Day
of Atonement. God appointed a special sacrifice through which the blood
of an animal was to cover the broken law so that God could dwell in the
midst of His people Israel. This occurred only once a year where the
High Priest entered the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle of Moses and
pour the blood of a goat upon the Mercy Seat to make yearly atonement
for the sins of Israel. (Leviticus 16) The word "atonement' in the
Hebrew means "to cover." As it was with Abraham, so it was with Israel.
As long as Israel upheld their side of the covenant, God was obligated
to uphold His side. However, if Israel did not uphold the covenant, God
was no longer obligated to make good. (Deuteronomy 28)
Looking back to the Abrahamic Covenant once again, we find one of the most remarkable things concerning covenant. It came by-way-of the promise of a son made by God to Abraham. Sarah,
Abraham's wife who was barren would bear a child, and his name would be
Isaac. However, as Isaac became older God called upon Abraham to uphold his side of the covenant. Remember, as covenant partners, all that was Abraham's was also God's and all that was God's would be Abraham's. "Now it came to pass after these things that God tested
Abraham, and said to him, Abraham! And he said, Here I am. And He said,
take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the
land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the
mountains of which I shall tell you.” (Genesis 22:1-2)
Abraham
would not hold back his promised son. In obedience to God the covenant
maker and keeper, Abraham took Isaac his only son, to the place that God
showed him, to sacrifice him to God. As Abraham raised his knife to
slay his son, "the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and
said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.” And He said, “Do not
lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you
fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from
Me." (Genesis 22:11-12) This very act set the stage for the covenant of all covenants. "For
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
Jesus
brings us a New Covenant having displaced and fulfilled the Old
Testament (Hebrews 10:9). With the fulfilling of the Old Covenant,
everything connected with it was set aside. As the Old Covenant was
sealed with the blood of circumcision in Abraham and the blood of
animals under the Mosaic Covenant, the New Covenant is sealed by the
very blood of Jesus. Just as God stood behind the Old Covenant and was
its surety, Jesus is the surety of the New Covenant. (Hebrews 7:25) As
the covenant between God and Abraham bound Abraham and his descendants by
indissoluble ties to Almighty God and Almighty God to Abraham
and His descendants, the same applies to the believer today through Jesus Christ. Also as in the covenant between God and Abraham, all that was Abraham's was also God's and all that
was God's would be Abraham's, the same is also true for the believer today through Jesus Christ.
The Apostle Paul tells us, "Or
do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is
in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were
bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your
spirit, which are God’s." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) Almighty God has purchased the believer for Himself. Next, we also see, "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For
you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you
received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The
Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of
God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with
Christ..." (Romans 8:14-17) Not only has God purchased the believer,
but He has adopted the believer and has made us His children and His
heirs. By definition, an heir is one who inherits or is entitled to
inherit the estate of another.
The following are but a few of the believers inheritance as the children of God. "For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us." (2 Corinthians 1:20). "Therefore,
having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace
in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." (Romans 5:1-2). "Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with
every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." (Ephesians 1:3). "His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness..." (2 Peter 1:3). "And this is the promise that He has promised us, eternal life." (1 John 2:25)
Monday, May 9, 2022
The Wonderful Name of Jesus
The name of Jesus is the most powerful name in all creation and has been given to the church. The Bible clearly reveals that the believer has been given the power of attorney to use His name. To have power of attorney means to have the legal authority to act for another person. How do we know that this is so for the believer? Jesus Himself gave every believe the authority to carry out His continuing mission and to have prayer answered, "And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” (Mark 16:17-18). "And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it." (John 14:13-14). "And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full." (John 16:23-24)
The measure of Jesus' ability is the measure of the value of His Name. If you keep in mind that God the Word (John 1:1) put on human flesh (John 1:14) and in human flesh was given the name Jesus, then we will understand that His name carries unlimited power in three worlds, "Therefore God also has highly exalted Him (Jesus) and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2: 9-11) Because Jesus was both man and God we also must note, "For with God nothing will be impossible." (Luke 1:37)When we meditate on the wonderful name of Jesus, we see that demons and all manner of sickness and disease are subject to the believe in Jesus' name (Mark 16:17, Luke 10:17). We also see that prayer in His name receives special attention. (John 16:23-24) In other words, Jesus is saying, If you ask the Father in My name, I will endorse it and the Father will give it to you. Now for many this may sound unheard-of, but I submit that Jesus would not have said it if it were not true. It takes faith to accept such as wonderful promise and act on it. "So Jesus answered and said to them, Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them." (Mark 11:23-24)
Believers must also know, that the power of attorney to use His name is on purely legal basis. Not only has He given us the legal right to use His name, but He is the guarantee behind His name. When Jesus gave us the legal right to use His name, the Father knew all that His name would imply. So the possibilities enveloped in the name of Jesus are for the most part, beyond our understanding. However, when Jesus said, "whatever you ask the Father in My name," He is giving us a signed, blank check and asking us to fill it in. Mind boggling isn't it?
The Father has made this investment for the benefit of the church on which the church has a legal right to draw upon for Her every need. The church has the right to use name of Jesus against its enemies; to use in our petitions; in praise and worship; in healing and deliverance, etc. These are but a few of the wonders of the greatness of His name. Basically, He gave His name to the church that she might carry out the will of the Father in the same way He Himself did and to do even greater works than He did. This is clearly revealed in scripture through the early church as it took dominion by preaching the gospel and moving in the power of God through signs, wonders and miracles. So let us exercise our faith and see wonders released through the wonderful Name of Jesus.
Monday, May 2, 2022
Christ In Me
One of the most exciting revelations shown in the Bible, is who the
believer is "in Christ." For the most part, before the born again
experience, our minds were dominated by the world with all of its
negativity and carnality. For most in the church today, the world ruled
mind has prevented many to see what they have now become in Christ. This
also has kept many at the "cross" rather than experiencing the
resurrected new life "in Christ." The cross is the place of death,
whereas the resurrection is the place of new life.
We find in the Epistles, especially the Pauline Epistles, the phrases, "in Him" or "in Christ."
It is these two simple words that begin to reveal the facts of who the
believer truly is in the mind of our Heavenly Father. We were "in Him"
when Jesus was nailed to the cross, "I have been crucified with Christ." (Galatians 2:20) We were "in Him" when He died, "If we died with Christ." (Romans 6:8) We were in Him when He was made alive in hell, "made us alive together in Christ" (Ephesians 2:5) We were in Him when He conquered hell and death, "I have the keys of hell and death." (Revelation 1:18) We were in Him when He rose from the dead, "raised us up together." (Ephesians 2:6) We are in Him today in the heavenly places, "made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:6)
When the Father looks upon the believer, He sees us in Christ.
The believers position in Christ guarantees true intimate fellowship
with the Father and the Son. (1 John 1:3) It also means that Satan
cannot reach us or touch us because his authority over the believer has
been completely destroyed. (Colossians 2:15) Most important we must know
without doubt that the Father is expecting us to occupy our position in
Christ where there is no guilt, condemnation or inferiority (Romans
8:1); where we stand complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10); where His
fullness becomes ours, (John 1:16); where His grace and strength becomes
ours (2 Corinthians 12:9)
In the mind of the Father, there is no such thing as failure or defeat
for the believer (Romans 8:37) because as noted above, the believer is "in Christ."
All it take is simple faith on the part of the believer to release the
power of God to meet every need whether in spirit, soul or body.
Although these frail bodies of ours at one time had been stained with
sin and marred with sickness, we are now His dwelling place (1
Corinthians 3:16). Sin can no longer have dominion over us (Romans
6:14); and sickness and disease can no long touch us (1 Peter 2:24)
without our consent. The great Almighty Creator who spoke the worlds
into being dwells in our body. Can you see just how mighty that makes
us? This is all due to us being "in Christ." "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." (1 John 4:4) PTL
Monday, April 25, 2022
He Is Greater than All
No matter how hard we try to avoid life's circumstances, it is
inevitable that they come. Sometimes circumstances seem more difficult
than others and sometimes they seem almost impossible to overcome. In
the gospel's of Matthew, Mark and Luke we find a story of Jesus and His
disciple traveling by-way-of boat, which we will look at in Luke's
account. "Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat
with His disciples. And He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other
side of the lake.” And they launched out. But as they sailed He fell
asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling
with water, and were in jeopardy. 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. 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 8:22-25)
As we see, what started out as a simply boat trip turned into what seems
to be a life threatening situation. What I want to draw our attention
too, is the question that Jesus asks His disciples after He commanded
the storm to cease. His question is what believes need to ask themselves
when one of life's trying situation comes upon them. "Jesus said to them, "Where is your faith?” Jesus would not have asked this question if He did not expect the disciples to have faith
to either deal with the storm or to have faith that with Jesus in the
boat, they were safe. When we look closer at what was going on, we see
that fear, "Master, we are perishing" had griped the lives of the
disciples. The Bible shows us that the type of fear that the disciples
were experiencing was not from God, "For God has not given you a spirit of fear..."
(2 Timothy 1:7) This type of fear, timidity, fearfulness, cowardice is
akin to doubt. When a believer deals with fear, he/she actually doubts
God's Word, His ability, "Fear not, for I am with you; Be not
dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help
you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." (Isaiah 41:10) This is precisely what happened with the disciples. Believers must always keep in mind, fear neutralized faith.
Although faith is
predominately a New Testament word or term, God has not changed His
approach to humanity in all of human history. What do I mean? The writer
of Hebrews gives us some great insight into the realm of faith and
those who were not under grace but under the Mosaic Law. The Book of
Hebrews was written to the Jewish believers. Many of the Jewish
believers who had left Judaism for Christianity wanted to reverse their
course in order to escape persecution by their countrymen. The writer of
Hebrews exhorts them not to turn back. His appeal is based on the
superiority of Christ over the Judaic system. He tells them, Christ is not only better than angels, but He is worshiped by them; Christ is better than Moses, because He created him; Christ is better than the Aaronic priesthood, because the sacrifice of Himself was once for all; Christ is better than the Law, because He is the mediator and surety of a better covenant; Christ produces tested faith, self-discipline and a visible love reflected through one’s life.
One of the most quoted scriptures from Hebrews is, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." (Hebrews 11:6) This verse is not limited to the New Testament believer, it refers to how all men are to approach God and His response to all men. When reading through Hebrews 11 we find that these Old Testament saints operated in faith. Through faith, they were all commended and approved by God to the point that their names are recorded in the Word of God for us. The fact is, they did not receive the fulfillment of the promise, that is, they did not receive all that was promised by God. They all still looked forward to some future promise. But it is not so with us. Believes do not have to look ahead for what God has promised, by faith we receive all the promises. "For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us." (2 Corinthians 1:20)
When we think of these Old Testament saints we must also keep in mind that the Holy Spirit was with them. However, for believers we see something even more remarkable. Jesus said, "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you." (John 14:16-17) The Holy Spirit dwells in the believer. With this in mind, should not the church do greater exploits for the Lord than the Old Testament saints? "Who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens." (Hebrews 11:33-34) Most certainly! It all comes down to the only thing that we are asked of by the LORD, "...If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” (Mark 9:23) Amen...