Who Has Believed Our Report?
Faith is so vital to the work of the Lord and is the only way by which every man is being saved in the appointed time. There could be many studies done and redone about faith, what it is, how we receive it [a free gift] and covering the many warnings about falling away from the faith. When the Lord finishes His work in us, only faith is remaining. All else is burned up in the consuming fire of His word [the truth] and all things not of faith are shaken away by the earthquakes [the fiery trials] He brings to His people. We are learning the fear of God and our obedience is being increased as our faith grows by this process.
Heb 12:25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
Heb 12:26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
Heb 12:27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken [Our Faith] may remain.
Heb 12:28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
Heb 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.
The Lord works all things and just sifted His church cutting off those that believe not from those that believe. What started out focused on contending over the lawfulness of divorce quickly became a much bigger litmus test of childlike faith in the promises and plan of God for all men. As the study on the High Calling of Marriage taught, in faith when we believe the Gospel, we need to view physical marriage, in the same way, the Lord views and teaches us by example on spiritual marriage. Our relationship with the Lord under the gospel of faith is marriage for life. His promise is our promise if we are Christ and He promises never to leave or forsake us in the Gospel despite our unfaithfulness and instead will teach us by our sufferings. Paul speaking of marriage calls it the mystery and understanding it in its simplicity is the key to the plan of God for us to follow with all men.
Eph 5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
Eph 5:24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Eph 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
Eph 5:27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
Eph 5:28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
Eph 5:29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
Eph 5:30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. [one with the Lord and His Father]
Eph 5:31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
Eph 5:32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
The trial and resulting sifting identified a great gulf between those that believe in the gospel and the promises of the Lord and those that claim faith but are still bound by the law that is not of faith. Unless we are given to come to Christ and leave all our reasonings and strength behind we are not entering into the kingdom of God.
Mat 18:3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Shown another way, it is only when we are dead to the law of our carnal reasonings that we become free to marry Christ in spirit.
Rom 7:2 For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
Rom 7:3 So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.
Rom 7:4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
We first try to marry Christ as an adulteress and have it both ways. And this is the error of our fallen brethren, who have been cut off for our sakes that we might believe the gospel and be saved.
Rom 10:2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
Rom 10:3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Rom 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
Reasonings of their carnal mind is being bound under the law and is going about seeking to establish their own standard of righteousness. It seems so right to those married to the law of sin and death, but the lack of faith truly blinds one to the righteousness of God that only come by faith. There are still bound to the law of their father the devil.
2Co 4:3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
2Co 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
The law [meaning the law of Moses /Gentiles] like all Words are Spirit [Joh 6:63] and symbolize something bigger than their literal meaning. The law in the Scriptures is a symbol representing our own carnal reasonings that are by definition against the ways of the Lord and keep us abiding in spiritual death never finding the peace the Lord promises.
Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Being under the law means we are still judging in the flesh and reasoning what is right or wrong, accusing and excusing, going up and down trusting in our own understanding to determine righteousness. This is the same as wrestling with God [i.e. Jacob] which we all first do until the Lord reveals Himself to us and imparts true faith. The professing people of God, “the Jews” have the law but the Gentiles that don’t profess God have the same law as it is written into the hearts and minds of all flesh.
Rom 2:14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
Rom 2:15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
The Lord is the Saviour of all men, both Jews, and Gentiles that have this built-in enmity that is being destroyed when faith comes upon us. The Pharisees and Sadducees and Scribes of every generation are the Jews who are yet carnal and constantly are disputing and contending over the law with endless questions and mindsets versus believing in the Lord with childlike faith. When you see disputes over the law in the Scriptures see this as disputes between what is faith and what is the self-righteous reasoning of carnal men. Stephen exemplifies the man of faith and is stoned to death for daring to stand up and preach Christ [faith alone] to the Jews.
Act 6:11 Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses [i.e. the law which is their carnal reasonings of right and wrong], and against God.
The law was given by God to all men to hold them until the promise of Christ [faith] comes to us.
Gal 3:23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
Gal 3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
Gal 3:25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
The law of carnal reasoning over what is righteous ends when Christ comes and imparts true faith. The time of reformation is at hand and the standard has been raised considerably especially for marriage that is a symbol for our relationship with the Lord.
Heb 9:10 Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.
The putting away for any reasons so long as a writ of divorce is given is replaced with a temporary putting away without divorce and an ongoing seeking of reconciliation with our spouse. [See Marriage Study for details]. When faith has come, the law for the lawless no longer applies. To those in faith, there is a new standard of righteousness. The bar is raised considerably.
Mat 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
We need to be teaching and living the law of faith and be dead to the law of self-righteousness which is what the law of Moses and the law of the Gentiles represent. All the disputes among the Jews and with the true disciples including our Lord were disputes and contentions over the law which is for a carnal nation only, those to whom Christ has not yet come and imparted faith
Heb 7:16 Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power of an endless life.
Heb 7:19 For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God
This is the message our brothers and sisters never embraced and if they did, they have fallen from the faith. This is what we read about non stop the reasoning and disputing about the law that never ever ends with endless questions and arguments. That is what is called Jewish fables and endless mindsets in the Scriptures and there are very many warnings about being so ensnared.
Tit 1:14 Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.
1Ti 1:4 Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.
Endless mindsets and carnal questions are the “practical reasonings” of men still bound to the law for the lawless and is not of faith. Thank God we been given the gift of faith and lean not on our own understanding.
Php 3:2 Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.
Php 3:3 For we are the [true] circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
The true Jews that are being faithful have no confidence in anyone’s flesh or reasonings of what is righteous but are standing upon the commands and the promises of this glorious gospel. It is that simple.
Rom 2:28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
Like all the words of Scriptures, Circumcision and Uncircumcision are parables and symbols that represent something much broader and deeper than what the literal physical term means. Keeping the law of Moses [Circumcision] profits us nothing towards salvation and neither does Uncircumcision, meaning one being a Gentile having not the law but still being a law unto themselves. All that matters is love which is our obedience and keeping the commandments which is done when we walk by faith.
1Co 7:18 Is any man called being circumcised? let him not become uncircumcised. Is any called in uncircumcision? let him not be circumcised.
1Co 7:19 Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.
Many under the law [law of self-righteousness not of faith] make a good showing in the flesh in preaching the carnal reasoning that keeps one abiding in spiritual death and not suffering the persecution that comes to those who walk by faith. It is a very deceptive way we only escape by repenting and believing the gospel.
Gal 6:12 As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.
Gal 6:13 For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh.
Paul warned of those that would ensnare us into circumcision, meaning keeping the law of carnal reasonings and standing upon that rather than simple childlike faith. Utterly amazing the seduction of the law and the appeal of the circumcision to our flesh. Those of the circumcision are antiChrist’s that seduce the servants of the Lord striving to walk by faith into committing spiritual fornication.
1Jn 2:26 These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you
Without faith it is impossible to please God and there is no profiting of our new man until our hearing of the gospel is mixed WITH FAITH. This is how one can be every learning but never coming to the knowledge of the Truth. They need faith which they do not have if under the law.
Heb 4:2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.
Pharisees and Sadducees hate to see the spiritually blind and lame Gentiles come to Christ and be healed instantly by faith. Another witness that is through a childlike faith that the Lord perfects His praise and glory from the mouth of babes.
Mat 21:15 And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased,
Mat 21:16 And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?
And earlier in Matthew.
Mat 11:25 At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.
Indeed not many noble, not many wise in the flesh that are of the circumcision and the teachers of these carnal reasonings of righteousness are saved. It truly is a miracle any man is saved by the right arm of the Lord.
1Co 1:26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
1Co 1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
Faith not Knowledge Saves
The Scriptures do convey many deep and dark mysteries about the ways of the Lord. Yet it all comes back to the simplicity of Christ. Do we have faith like a little child? If we do then we are being saved.
Pro 16:8 Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues without right.
Being called up hither to a place of rest from our own works and reasoning we no longer live to eat, we eat to live and hold fast the most important thing.
Rom 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness [that only comes by faith], and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Rom 14:18 For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.
The temple that is Christ is far more important than the gold in the temple.
Mat 23:16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple [trusting in knowledge under the law] he is a debtor!
Mat 23:17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?
Paul warns in every epistle he wrote of our being led astray and shrinking back into perdition and spiritual death.
2Co 11:2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
2Co 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
“Disciples indeed” are those who continue in the faith and are set free by the truth they abide in and follow.
Heb 10:38 Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
Heb 10:39 But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe [continue in the faith] to the saving of the soul.
Our faith has been increased as we have come out from the bondage of the Circumcision and those that walked with us that trusted in their own knowledge and reasonings. Lord willing, we are standing as little children and trust in the Lord and His simple commands and let Him do the work of salvation. We rejoice no longer in our inequity which is our own righteousness and understanding. We now stand and rejoice in the Truth and do not bow down to the reasonings of our carnal mind.
1Co 13:6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity [self righteousness, not of faith], but rejoiceth in the truth;
This is the main point in the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; who refused to bow down to the reasonings of the law and worship the image our old man that our carnal mind sets up in place of the Lord’s Words.
Dan 3:12 There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
The result of not bowing but standing in faith is we are hated and rejected by all men, persecuted by our own fellow Jews and cast into the fiery furnace. Such is the cross and Jesus Christ and Him crucified which is the gospel we now preach. Resting in Christ is resting from our own works and our ceasing of bowing to the call of the King of Babylon within us.
Mat 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
The Promises Realized only Through Faith
Rom 4:2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
Rom 4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Rom 4:4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
Rom 4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Lord willing a time comes when we stop working our own work and do the work of God entering into His rest. What matters to God is our faith!
Joh 6:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
We have known of these verses for years, but the magnitude of them, and what it really means to rest from our work and lay down all our thinking and reasoning [the righteous self-reasoning of the law] is the only way we enter into life. The Pharisees and Sadducees back then and the Pharisees and Sadducees today are trusting in their own knowledge and righteousness not knowing the righteousness of Christ because that only comes by the free gift given extremely few in the third day.
Rom 4:13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
Rom 4:14 For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:
Rom 4:15 Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is [In faith], there is no transgression.
Abraham at first did not believe, but the story of Isaac is the example for us of faith of the new man. In faith, we follow the Lord to the cross knowing He will raise us up and be faithful to all of His promises. When we stagger not, then we are being saved and faith works its work in our lives. But we must get out from the law of carnal reasoning that binds the entire world in unbelief.
Rom 4:20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
Rom 4:21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
Rom 4:22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
Faith in the Lord and His promises are essential to salvation. In fact that is the gospel and what we must turn to in faith.
Heb 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
Heb 11:18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:
Heb 11:19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.
The Lord’s true people come through a sifting and a shaking process that separates the sheep from the goats which is spiritual speak for separating those who have faith from those that continue to trust in themselves and not the Lord. That will be material for future studies as the Lord wills.
Mat 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Mat 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
Mat 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Faith is the Power unto Salvation!
Rom 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Rom 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
We need to start thinking about faith in a much wider and deeper way than we have been. If we stay part of the circumcision or the uncircumcision, both representing carnality and unbelief, we cannot be saved in this age. Abiding in Christ is abiding in that faith and standing and resting on His promises.
1Jn 2:28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
1Jn 2:29 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.
To come to the wedding with Christ, we need to be clothed in proper garments that the Lord gives us called faith. The same are the fine linen of the saints and that faith is only established and grown in us when we receive and believe the Gospel of grace. It is by that faith through grace in which we stand [Rom 5:2] that we come to know the Lord and have His mind.
Isa 61:10 I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.
Rev 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
Rev 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
The testimony of Christ and faith in His promises has been and will continue to be rejected by all but the called, chosen and faithful few [the very Elect]. Faith in promises of God [i.e. the good news gospel of Jesus Christ], is always first rejected in favor of the reasonings of the carnal mind. All men therefore come to the wedding without the proper garments but are rejected of the Lord as the parable reveals.
Mat 22:2 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son …..
Mat 22:11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
Mat 22:12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
Mat 22:13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Not having faith and trusting in our own riches, we are told where to go to get our clothing. It is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and work the work of God that is bringing the fiery trials and destruction to our old way of life and thinking.
Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
As the King’s servants, we are not to go to the righteous and those that need no repentance. Instead, we are to go to the poor and the sick and those who acknowledge their need for a spiritual physician.
Luk 14:21 So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.
Mat 22:10 So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.
Mar 2:17 When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
The Word of God is always first rejected by the “Jews” who are the Lord’s chosen people but are not faithful because they have not been given faith to believe and still are of the Circumcision. Like Paul, all who preach faith in Christ are rejected and hated by their own people hence Paul and those that believe the gospel are sent forth as preachers to the Gentiles.
Act 13:45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things [faith, the gospel] which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.
Act 13:46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.
Act 13:47 For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.
Who has Believed the Gospel?
The few that find the way are the few that believe the report of God, the Gospel. It is only those same precious few are given to see [revealed] the strong arm of the Lord which is the same gospel that is the power unto salvation.
Isa 53:1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
The good news that if we walk by faith and rest from our own works and carnal reasonings, we will be saved. It is not maybe with a bunch of carnal conditions that men continue to add.
The reasonings and our own thoughts are always more attractive to flesh than following the narrow way and walking by faith. The carnal mind and those of the circumcision always have a more attractive plan that will tickle our ears and sway all but the very few given to stand steadfast in the faith.
Isa 53:2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
Christ’s ways are rejected and also are those who do Christ and follow in His steps and preach the gospel of grace and trusting solely in the Lord as the way of salvation and righteousness. The Jews, the professing Body of every era, fulfills the Scriptures and rejects Christ despising Him and heaping shame upon Him and those that believe.
Isa 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Isa 53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
We as Christ, those that believe on Him are rejecting the carnal reasonings of men and follow our Lord to the cross. This same death and stripes we receive for standing for righteousness and defending the Gospel are the very things that are saving us.
Isa 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Our flesh wants to argue and contend with those that now persecute and falsely accuse us and parade us naked and expose our past sins. When we follow Christ and walk by faith, we do not fight or argue against those who know not what they do. We keep our mouth shut and are led as sheep to the slaughter trusting in the resurrection to righteousness to come!
Isa 53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
Oh, how precious to the Lord is the death of His saints, when the chosen few are able and willing to die for Him and stand up for righteousness sakes.
Psa 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
Those the Lord is saving by the faith are seeing their spiritual prosperity grow as they are matured in the fiery trials. We are learning to give the Lord thanks in all our trials even abiding in faith and staying married to the spouse the Lord has given us. We are being sanctified in all such trials and in turn are sanctifying our unbelieving spouse in the same way the Lord has been sanctifying us since He began to draw us to Him.
Isa 53:10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
Isa 53:11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
Scripture answers Isaiah’s question about who has believed our report? Let’s never forget, it is all the Lord’s doing whether one has faith or not.
Joh 12:38 That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?
Joh 12:39 Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again,
Joh 12:40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.
Those that now reject us as Christ and walk no more with Him [us], having departed from us [1Jo 2:19], did so because the Lord caused them to do it. They cannot believe because He has blinded them. This despite seeing many miracles and spiritual healings in their own life and the life of others. Lack of faith [unbelief] is such a strong delusion to workings of God.
Joh 12:36 While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.
Joh 12:37 But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him:
I pray this study has helped us see faith in a different and brighter light. May we see how strong the seduction of the “law for the lawless” …. those Jews of the “circumcision”, and how that carnal reasoning leads one astray and hinders moving onward to maturity and partaking of the strong meat of the gospel.
Gal 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
The Lord is losing none of those given faith [Joh 6:39]. We do tarry for those given faith but who are not yet strong enough to fight and engage with the Pharisees and Sadducees who know the Scriptures but remain bound by the law [the circumcision]. Let’s keep those brethren in prayer that their faith would be increased and they will be given the boldness to come out for Christ.
Joh 12:42 Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue:
Joh 12:43 For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.
Reading Suggestions:
Hebrews 11
Daniel 3
Philippians 3
Romans 3