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Faith
is very very important! It takes faith to understand
the kingdom of God. It takes faith to persevere
in prayer.
Darkness
covers the Earth, and a deep and profound darkness
covers the people. Chaos, confusion and the dark
forces of Satan, sin and death have engulfed humanity.
These destructive forces are too powerful, and
we are too weak, to overcome them on our own.
What can
remove the darkness? What can bring us light?
What can bring us victory over these very real
and deadly forces? It is not our own efforts,
works or deeds. It is nothing that we can do.
It is simply our response to God and His Word.
The Bible calls that faith.
Faith
is knowing who the Supreme Being is and then trusting
this great and good and faithful Three-In-One
God. Faith is also knowing what God has said and
having confidence in what He has said, and then
doing what He has said.
Faith
enables us to experience many good and valuable
things that are otherwise impossible for us to
experience. Faith, belief, confidence, trust,
faithfulness to God and to His Word are essential
for reconciliation with God, for getting into
a right relationship with the Creator, for atonement,
for salvation, for successful living that honors
the Lord, for eternal life in the heavenly Jerusalem.
Faith is a necessary and extremely beneficial
thing. Unbelief, unfaith, is terribly, terribly
destructive. We want to increase in faith!
We more
we learn about God and the Scriptures, and the
more we are faithful to God and the Scriptures
and put into practice the things that we learn,
the more we will increase in faith.
Last week
the Holy Spirit, communicating to us through Luke,
was teaching us that it takes faith to be saved.
It takes faith to forgive the way we need to.
It takes faith to have the humble attitude that
God wants us to have. It takes faith to show proper
gratitude. It takes faith to experience miraculous
healing, especially the ultimate and eternal spiritual
healing of body, soul and spirit.
Now
the Spirit of truth wants us to know that it takes
faith to understand the kingdom of God.
Because
of the Fall, we are very very confused about the
most important things. We don’t understand the
Creator the way we need to. We don’t understand
the kingdom of God - how the Creator is ruling
over the universe now, and how He is expanding
His rule over more and human beings, and where
He is bringing the creation to - the way we need
to. It takes faith to understand the kingdom of
God.
The Pharisees
knew some things about the kingdom of God. They
asked Rabbi Yeshua about the timing of its arrival.
Now
having been questioned by the Pharisees as to
when the kingdom of God was coming...
The Pharisees
knew that God is real; that He has a real kingdom
over which He rules; that God the Father is the
High King; that the High King has a heavenly court;
Living Beings surround the throne on which God
sits; archangels and angels, cherubeem and serafeem
are among those who serve the King. They also
understood that part of the universe is in rebellion
against God, and that rebellion must come to an
end, so that the entire universe will be completely
restored to God’s authority; that a time was coming
when the Lord would extend His rule over all of
humanity and rule over us in a much more visible
and powerful way; that in some way, God Himself
would be the King who would be among us. Some
of the Pharisees wanted to know if Rabbi Yeshua
knew when that tremendous event would happen.
Now
having been questioned by the Pharisees as to
when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered
them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming
with signs to be observed; nor will they say,
'Look, here it is!' or, 'There it is!' For behold,
the kingdom of God is in your midst”.
The young
Rabbi from Nazareth had a much better understanding
about the kingdom of God than these Pharisees.
Yeshua knew that His God and Father was the High
King, and that a day was coming when God would
completely rule over the Heavens and the Earth
and over all of humanity in a more visible and
powerful way. But, Israel’s greatest Rabbi also
knew that He was the Son of the High King and
that He Himself would be the King over all the
Earth. He also knew that wherever the King is,
even if it is a humble and mostly unrecognized
way, there the kingdom of God is centered.
The King
of the Jews must have gotten a chuckle from the
lack of faith of these Pharisees. The Son of the
High King had actually come into this world that
He had made, and was talking to these religious
leaders of the Special Nation, and yet they couldn’t
recognize Him. Only those few with real faith
could understand that the King had come and therefore
the kingdom of God was uniquely present on Earth.
King Messiah
also knew that He would be rejected by the majority
of Israel, including the leaders, and that He
would return to Heaven, and only then would He
would return with honor and signs and wonders
and establish the Kingdom of God on Earth. Messiah
knew that between His two comings, only a faithful
remnant would know and trust Him. That faithful
minority should be grateful for His time among
them, and patiently and faithfully wait for Him
to return to this planet with power and glory.
And
He said to the disciples, “The days will come
when you will long to see one of the days of the
Son of Man, and you will not see it.
Strongly
desiring something, really wanting something,
longing for something can cause some people to
take inappropriate action to get what they want.
Until the King returns, those with faith, who
want to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, even though
they long for the Messiah to return, will not
be deceived by false messiahs and by false reports
of Messiah’s return.
They
will say to you, 'Look there! Look here!' Do not
go away, and do not run after them.
Those
with faith should understand that the King’s return
will not be quiet or done in secret or in a hidden
way, or seen by just a few. When King Yeshua returns
from Heaven to Earth, it will be sudden and dramatic
and will make a tremendous impact on the whole
world, and every human being on this planet will
know.
For
just like the lightning, when it flashes out of
one part of the sky, shines to the other part
of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day.
Think
of a powerful lighting and thunderstorm that takes
place at night - like one of the ones we get here
in the Midwest in Spring or Summer; picture a
huge display of lighting that covers the sky,
and the tremendous booms of thunder that accompanies
it, so that everything lights up and shakes -
it is with that kind of jarring impact that King
Immanuel is going to return with.
Yeshua
knew who He was. He also knew that the majority
of Israel would not recognize that He was the
King of Israel or the King of the kingdom of God.
They would not place their faith in Him. But the
unbelief of the majority wouldn’t deter Him, and
must not deter His faithful disciples, from doing
what God wanted. Suffering and rejection by an
anti-God world is part of the price that those
who have faith are willing to pay.
But
first He must suffer many things and be rejected
by this generation.
While
King Messiah is in Heaven, waiting for the right
time to return with great honor and power to establish
the kingdom of God on Earth, those who have genuine
faith will stay focused on God and Messiah, and
on building up and expanding the kingdom of God.
They will not be deterred by rejection and persecution.
Like Messiah,
a time is coming when faithful disciples will
enjoy power and honor. But, until that time comes,
the faithful will not get caught up with all the
worldly affairs of a corrupt world that won’t
last.
History
is a good teacher - especially the trustworthy
history recorded in the Bible. Messiah tells us
that we can learn about what it will be like right
before He returns by considering the divinely
inspired history of Noah and the Flood. Knowing
what things will be like will help us to remain
faithful to the very end.
And
just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it
will be also in the days of the Son of Man: they
were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying,
they were being given in marriage, until the day
that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came
and destroyed them all.
In the
time of Noah, the faithless majority ignored God
and ignored the warnings of Noah. They were focused
on worldly pursuits. The Lord judged them, and
they were destroyed by the Flood, while the faithful
minority who focused on God and being faithful
to fulfill His word, were saved. That is what
it be like for the generation who are alive when
King Yeshua returns.
Therefore
we need to ask ourselves: Am I focused on serving
God and Messiah and building up the Community
of the Faithful, or am I caught up in the things
of the world? In worldly pursuit - money and materialism
and accumulating more and more things? Am I concentrating
on building my life in this world, or my real
and eternal life in the eternal kingdom of God?
The sudden
and dramatic destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah,
but the rescue of Lot and his daughters, is another
example that faith can look to to better understand
the circumstances surrounding the return of King
Messiah, and help us be faithful now and to the
very end.
It
was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they
were eating, they were drinking, they were buying,
they were selling, they were planting, they were
building; but on the day that Lot went out from
Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from Heaven
and destroyed them all. It will be just
the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.
The people
of Sodom were not faithful to the Creator. They
were sexually corrupt and materialistic. And,
they tried to harm righteous Lot. That’s what
it will be like right before Yeshua’s return.
The faithless majority will ignore God, be materialistic,
sexually perverse, make fun of righteousness,
and persecute the faithful. It will be a very
dangerous time. The faithful must remain faithful
and be prepared to act decisively and quickly
to avoid all of those dangers. They will need
to leave all behind to save their lives. Those
who don’t have the faith to understand what is
happening, and take the appropriate action, may
not survive.
On
that day, the one who is on the housetop and whose
goods are in the house must not go down to take
them out; and likewise the one who is in the field
must not turn back.
Those
who have faith will be like Lot and his family
fleeing the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
But even after the initial flight to safety, Lot’s
wife, after being warned not to look back, did
look back - probably with longing in her heart
for the pleasures and comforts of Sodom, and she
was destroyed. She is a warning for the faithful
to remember. And so Messiah warns us:
Remember
Lot's wife.
Those
who have faith will make sure that they are not
like her - seemingly safe because they have confessed
Yeshua as the Messiah and have started to serve
God, and have turned away sexual immorality and
worldly values, but after their initial repentance,
in their hearts they have started looking back
with longing to worldliness and sinful pleasures.
Those
who have faith will understand that the way to
have a meaningful life that genuinely pleases
God; and the way to experience eternal life in
the New Heavens and New Earth is to deny the world,
to deny the pursuit of wealth, and to deny self.
Denying self means rejecting one’s own goals,
one’s own agenda for one’s life. Those who have
faith will wholeheartedly serve God by adopting
the Lord’s goals and agenda and priorities.
Whoever
seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever
loses his life will preserve it.
Those
who have faith will understand that when Messiah
returns, there will be a judgment and a separation
of the faithful and faithless. Close family relations,
friendships, work relationships won’t matter.
Only genuine faith in the living God who judges
the God-ignorers and rewards the righteous, will.
I tell
you, on that night there will be two in one bed;
one will be taken and the other will be left.
There will be two women grinding at the same
place; one will be taken and the other will be
left. Two men will be in the field; one will be
taken and the other will be left.
The disciples
wanted to know where those who will be taken to
judgment will go.
And
answering they said to Him, “Where, Lord”?
It is
not so important to know where they will be taken.
What is important for the disciples to know is
that faithlessness, which is like spiritual corruption
and decay, will inevitably result in judgment
and spiritual death - just as physical decay results
in physical death and destruction.
And
He said to them, “Where the body is, there also
the vultures will be gathered”.
Unbelief,
unfaith, is terribly, terribly destructive. Faith
is very very important and beneficial! Faith enables
us to understand the kingdom of God the way we
need to. It enables us to do the right things
and have the right goals. It helps us avoid the
temptations of the world and the flesh. It helps
us endure persecution. We want to increase in
faith!
It
also takes faith to persevere through rejection,
opposition and persecution.
Messiah
wants us to know that the faithful will suffer
between the two comings, especially close to the
Second Coming. That is to be expected. And, the
persecution will intensify right before the King
returns. It will be an especially difficult time
for Christians and Messianic Jews. It is important
that we react the right way to the persecution
of the faithless majority.
When we
experience rejection and persecution, we are not
to get discouraged, and stop trusting God. We
must not become angry and bitter people. We are
not to respond with hatred and unforgiveness.
We are not to take vengeance on those who persecute
us.
Instead,
we are to endure rejection and persecution by
maintaining faith in God, and by praying that
God will bring justice to the oppressed, and vindicate
and reward us, and punish the wicked in His time
and His way.
Now
He was telling them a parable to show that at
all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart,
saying, "In a certain city there was a judge
who did not fear God and did not respect man.
And because He didn’t fear God or man, he
couldn’t be pressured to do anything that he didn’t
want to do. There was a widow in that city,
and she kept coming to him, saying, 'Give me legal
protection from my opponent’. For a while he was
unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, 'Even
though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet
because this widow bothers me, I will give her
legal protection, otherwise by continually coming
she will wear me out’”. The persistent requests
of the widow affected the judge, where the fear
of God and man didn’t.
And
the Lord said, "Hear what the unrighteous
judge said; now, will not God bring about justice
for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and
will He delay long over them? I tell you that
He will bring about justice for them quickly.
This is
not so much a lesson on persistent prayer, but
an encouragement to continue trusting the Lord
to bring justice to the oppressed remnant; to
know that in spite of the persecution we may be
suffering, God still loves us. He is aware of
us and our suffering, and eventually He will make
things right. He will give us justice. He will
end our suffering. He will punish the wicked.
He will amazingly reward those who love and serve
Him. And, until that happens, we are to remain
faithful to Him, faithful to speaking the truth.
That is not easy now, and it will be even more
difficult right when the King returns.
However,
when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith
on the Earth?"
The answer
is - no, not much. Most of the world will reject
faith in God and Messiah and the Bible and righteous
standards. They will reject the true Messiah and
embrace various false messiahs, and finally the
anti-Messiah. They will reject the truth. They
will embrace a lie. They will persecute the righteous.
But a remnant will have some faith.
Faith
is very very important! It takes faith to be saved.
It takes faith to forgive the way we need to.
It takes faith to have the humble attitude that
God wants us to have. It takes faith to show proper
gratitude. It takes faith to experience miraculous
healing, especially ultimate and eternal and spiritual
healing of body, soul and spirit.
It takes
faith to understand how God operates to extend
His kingdom in this world, and establishment of
the kingdom of God on Earth when King Messiah
returns. It enables us to do the right things
and have the right goals. It helps us avoid the
temptations of the world and the flesh. It takes
faith to persevere through injustice and discouragement
and opposition.
Faith
is a necessary and extremely beneficial thing.
Unbelief, unfaith, lack of trust in the Three-In-One
God and His entire divinely inspired revelation
is terribly, terribly destructive. We want to
increase in faith!
We more
we learn about God and the Scriptures, and the
more we are faithful to God and the Scriptures
and put into practice the things that we learn,
the more we will increase in faith.
Lord,
enable us to do those things! Lord, increase our
faith!
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