STRENGTHENED IN FAITH

Bert Taylor

Hebrews 3: 14-4: 2; 1 Peter 1: 3-9; 2 Peter 1: 5-11; 1 Thessalonians 1: 2, 3

It will be obvious from these passages of scripture that I would seek that we may be strengthened in faith. It is what marks the day in which we are. Reference was made in the reading to how we are going to come into these matters that we were speaking of, the enjoyment of our heavenly calling, of the place we have in Christ, being justified before our God. It is evident, and I trust it will be evident to us all, that it is open to faith. All that we have been speaking of is real and faith is like a door that opens the whole matter up for present enjoyment.

The passage we read in Hebrews is a warning, it says, “we have had glad tidings presented to us … but the word of the report did not profit them, not being mixed with faith”. We enjoy the meetings and what we hear, but there is a danger that we do not profit from them. I think we would all feel that in our histories. We have not profited any of us as much as we might have and here the apostle is speaking about these persons with a glorious prospect before them. It refers to the time when the spies brought back the fruits of the land, when they showed them those grapes and pomegranates, and the words of Caleb and Joshua saying that God, if He delights in us, will bring us in. It is like the time we are in. God has brought before us in wondrous grace the fruits of the heavenly land and we are each of us in circumstances where we are tested, young and old, as to whether we are going to move forward or to move back. The passage is written to encourage them. It says, “To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts”. The contrast to acting in faith is that we act in self-confidence, we act according to how we see things and as men would view them, but I would seek to encourage our hearts that we have had glad tidings presented to us. We read that whatever promises of God there are they are yea and amen in Christ. Whatever promises you care to look for in the Bible you will find the reassurance of them, all in a glorified risen Saviour. I speak to all who have faith in this room, all who would have repented and come into the blessedness of their sins forgiven. There was an operation of faith, you had a transaction with God, with Christ. Some light shone into your heart that all your history, all your sins, even the kind of person that you are as of Adam’s race, all met by God in the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. By faith you received the remission of your sins. They may rise again in our mind but I would tell you this, it is the devil that raises them: many a time he may bring home to you how bad you are, but never in all your life were you worse than when you were lost and dead in your sins, and it was then that God loved you! When we were without strength, Christ died for the ungodly. May your heart be reassured, dear brother or sister, that whatever comes into your life, God loved you when you were a sinner at your very worst, and He has provided for you for the rest of your journey. Abraham proved that, it speaks of the steps in faith of our father Abraham. He was tested very severely, God had promised him great things and the very opposite happened; it says, he found strength in faith (see Rom. 4: 20). May we be encouraged not to fall back on our own way of thinking of how we are going to work through the truth. Faith is always tested and in very simple things. It is a fact in our lives that we are always under test. God tested Gideon by a simple thing as to persons lapping the water. It seemed quite an insignificant matter, but it was a test of faith. God said, by these few men that are dependent, I will save you (see Judges 7: 5). Let us just think of that in exercises that may be testing you at the moment, that God is just testing your faith. He has given you something to fall back on. You have had some history with God and with Christ already in your soul. May we be encouraged to fall back on that experience with God and with Christ, rather than the expediencies of our own human minds.

It says, “but the word of the report did not profit them”. We often find this, perhaps in ministry; we think it is for somebody else, we think that we know better than what the Lord may be saying in the ministry. The sad consequence of this was that for another thirty eight years they wandered in the desert. How sad! One meeting they missed, you may say, one presentation of Christ they turned aside, and their lives were lost as to the enjoyment of the thoughts of God. What happened on that occasion was that God presented to them His purposes of love. He says, here is a presentation to you of what I have promised, and He is very gracious, He stimulates faith. I think, as Caleb and Joshua saw those grapes and the land, they saw that the promises of God were real and enshrined them in their affections. I would encourage everyone here to lay hold in faith of the purpose of God. Otherwise we are functioning at a lower level than the purpose of God centred in Christ. I tell you a blessed fact – it included you. Think of that, His purpose included you. It says, “chosen us in him before the world’s foundation, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love”, Eph 1: 4. These are the thoughts of divine purpose for us and faith lays hold of them, and I would say cling tenaciously to them.

As we said, Abraham was tested about these things, but he clung to them through various temptations. The temptations that you may be passing through today, I think if you look at Abraham’s life you can find him tested about them, tested about natural things, tested about the love of money, he was promised all that he wanted by the king of Sodom but he said, no. These are the temptations that come in our way and God tests us by them and how pleased God was with Abraham. It says as to Abraham once that God appeared to him again. It is a feature of Abraham’s life, testings to faith and divine appearings. How beautiful! How God answered his faith when He tested him. It says, He appeared to Abraham again a second time from heaven, accentuating the way that God presents and encourages and stimulates his faith.

There is a word of warning here but a word of encouragement. It says, “not being mixed with faith”. You may not understand the ministry, and our natural reaction to that is to forget it, but Paul has a fine word about that, “think on these things”, Phil 4: 8. Do not put them out of your mind, even at quiet times think on these things. That is how the Lord helps you, how faith becomes strengthened. It says, “for the Lord will give thee understanding in all things”, 2 Tim 2: 7. Faith sees beyond the snares and the traps of the present circumstances, and lays hold tenaciously and counts on God for the way through the exercises. Caleb and Joshua did, but others could not enter in, “the word of the report did not profit them, not being mixed with faith”. I repeat again, do not just say you do not understand it, allow faith to operate, allow the Spirit of God to operate in your soul, because these two things are very closely connected, faith and the Spirit. If faith is not operating, I say quite unreservedly, normally the Spirit is hindered, but if there is an operation of faith, the Spirit of God comes in to bring the power. Faith answers to light in the soul and the Spirit of God made room for gives power to answer to the light. That is how simply it is put and as faith is there the Spirit delights to join His help to our weaknesses. It is the weaknesses that we may feel in faith. One man said, “I believe, help my unbelief”, Mark 9: 24. I have said that many a time – you felt that it was right, you have wanted to do it, but you have felt the insufficiency in yourself, and the Spirit joins His help to our weakness to strengthen us, that the glory of the divine purpose and the word of the report may be allowed to have its full impress and value with us. God’s displeasure was against those people. How solemn as you think of the divine displeasure that was there! It says He was wrath. It is a very strong term for the beloved people whom He had brought out of Egypt. Dear brethren, we may be suffering, and I do not exclude myself, through the word of the report not being mixed with faith. I speak specially as to the light of the assembly that has come to us in the word of the report. There was and is still going on a great line of ministry as to the assembly as Christ’s body on earth and He our glorious Head in heaven. I urge you, dear brother and sister, that the word of the report may profit us, it may find a lodgement in our hearts, that it may be mixed with faith. There is great reassurance. You look at church history – the forces of darkness and the powers of evil from Pentecost have been against the light of the assembly, and thank God through the faith of some, and the grace of the Spirit, it is to be enjoyed today. May we cherish it and seek to make room for it amidst the breakdown. Some have said that things were all finished, things were all broken; things are not all broken, the light is still shining and faith finds strength to walk in the light. It is not just the light of our sins forgiven, blessed as that is, but faith finds strength to walk in the power of the Spirit, in the light of a glorious Head in heaven who is soon coming for us to translate what is here on earth so precious to Him, into other surroundings. To bring us home, in other words. That is what faith is looking for, looking and waiting to be at home. This is one of the great things that faith cherishes, that He is coming for us. Alas some will have to be awakened. May it not be anyone here who needs that reawakening when He comes, but when He comes He will find faith, find persons looking for Him, He will find persons who each Lord’s Day gather together to remember Him in the breaking of bread until He comes. That is what we do every Lord’s Day; we are thinking of going to the Supper, it is until He comes. A high-born man has gone away to receive a kingdom. Until He comes there are those who are operating in faith on the earth, maintaining things in simplicity and in faith awaiting the return of that high-born One so that when He comes He will have something for Himself (See Luke 18). He has left with everyone of us something; the trading of those minas flowed out from faith, or the lack of it. One man bound it in a towel, he was not harkening to the word, it was not mixed with faith. What a loss! These are very simple illustrations, but they are very real. That man suffered loss. Another in whom the word was mixed with faith was very diligent and very urgent, and faith is a very active thing. The stress of the conditions we are in necessitates faith being active.

Peter was speaking of the proving of your faith, “much more precious than of gold which perishes”, involving that faith does not perish. It will soon give place to sight; we will not need it then, “though not now looking, but believing, ye exult with joy unspeakable”. We are looking for that time when we will see Him in actuality, but in the meantime, there is the proving of our faith, much more precious. It is very interesting to look at the accompaniments of faith. It speaks of it being holy. You did not derive that from your parents; that is divine work in your soul. Peter speaks of it as “precious faith” (2 Peter 1: 1), and Paul as “faith working through love”, Gal. 5: 6. These all show that it is from God, and how He values it.

Peter is speaking to these persons who have been suffering. Faith is the great power to go through the sufferings. These persons had lost their homes, their job, maybe lost most of their possessions, he is speaking here about something that faith has opened to them that is incorruptible, undefiled and unfading. Can you tell me anything better than that? That is what God proposes to faith, something that cannot be damaged by rust or moth or anything on earth, fluctuations in the markets, it cannot be spoiled, “an incorruptible and undefiled and unfading inheritance”. It is a beautiful word, “reserved in the heavens for you”. Does your faith give you that in your soul? It is reserved for you, not just for the older brethren, persons who are more intelligent. In addressing the scattering of the remnant of the Jews, he says, “reserved in the heavens for you”. Think of that shining as divine light into their souls when they had lost so much. They had something that could not be spoiled. The Lord sometimes allows us to gain things that we have gone after ourselves; there may be many things in our lives, aspirations of our abilities, He sometimes allows us to gain them, and we find that in gaining them they are hollow, they are not the satisfaction that we had thought. But what He has given us is something incorruptible, undefiled and unfading. These things are all connected with the proving of your faith. What the proving of our faith has in mind is to help us to use it, and it grows. If you look at the ministry of Elisha you will see that he always used very simple things. He says to the woman who was facing death, What have you in the house? – in faith, use it. There is more than enough there to meet the debt and to live, “thou and thy sons on the rest” (see 2 Kings 4: 2-8). She, perhaps as we have been saying already, had heard the word, she was a widow of the sons of the prophets, she knew the ministry, the terms, but there she was surrounded by the terms, the bookcases full, and knew the doctrine, but she was discouraged, it was not mixed with faith. Elisha says, just use what you have. The waters were spoiled and he says, bring salt, an ordinary commodity. You will find that through these chapters in 2 Kings. There was death in the pot, he says bring in meal (see 2 Kings 4: 41). They were all things that were just to hand and they were not being used. “The word is near thee, in thy mouth” (Rom. 10: 8), the word of faith which we preach, “believe in thine heart that God has raised him from among the dead, thou shalt be saved” (v 9). You found that when you were in need of your sins being forgiven, did you not, that the word was near you, in your mouth? Well, faith is near you today amidst the testings to help you come into the blessedness of what Peter is speaking of here, that we may not be short sighted but that we may prove “faith, much more precious than of gold which perishes, though it be proved by fire, be found to praise and glory and honour in the revelation of Jesus Christ: whom having not seen, ye love; on whom though not now looking, but believing, ye exult with joy unspeakable filled with the glory, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls”. Peter is making it very real to these persons, that through faith they were coming into the blessedness, “receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls”. It is a very fine thing, soul salvation. I do not just mean from your sins, but it means that the soul is happy and restful in its links with God, “receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls”. It will look on to the future no doubt, but until that hour dawns faith is operating, bringing the salvation of your souls. It is a very blessed thing to be at peace with God. We are not quite at peace with God if we are letting the ministry go over our heads. People say, we do not understand it. You have to rise to these things and the Spirit of God would help us to raise our sights that what is presented to us is for our present soul salvation that we may be in the gain and the joy of what divine love has purposed for us.

Peter says “in your faith have also virtue”; it means it has power. I do not intend to go into the list of these things, but the use of faith multiplies and there is one thing added to another so that to the persons with whom it is operating he says, “to make your calling and election sure”. It is not just that we believe that we have been brought into the fellowship of God’s Son, but we make it sure by the use of faith and harkening to the word. It says of these persons that the word has been mixed with faith and they are using diligence, “to make your calling and election sure”. You say, I thought election depended on God; well, the enjoyment of it depends on your faith. God has done all that was required from His side, the enjoyment of your election depends on your use of your faith. Election means that God chose, that He destined you for His world of bliss, chose you and destined you for a realm of wonderful blessing, and in the meantime He has given the earnest of the Spirit into our hearts that the enjoyment of it may be known by us now. Peter is encouraging these brethren.

Paul is writing to the Thessalonians, who were young believers recently converted, remembering, “unceasingly your work of faith, and labour of love, and enduring constancy of hope, of our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father”. He is encouraged in the way that they were operating. They had turned from idols to serve a living and true God. I would like to say that their diligence would encourage us to make room for the Spirit. If we say we do not understand and we shut our eyes to the ministry, the holy Spirit of God is hindered. You will find that in the history that I have referred to in Exodus the rock gave its water, they did not seem to drink of it until Numbers 21. A long period when there was not enjoyment of divine thoughts and purposes, but in the drinking of it in Numbers 21 they very soon journeyed into the land that God had destined for them. May it be so with our hearts that we are making room for the Spirit of God to develop in us a kind of personnel, a kind of attitude and actions that are different. I think the product of making room for the Spirit of God, as the enjoyment and shedding abroad of the new covenant, is that there is a new atmosphere established through persons who are moving in faith, and the Spirit has liberty that there is, instead of a line of demand, the new covenant as a line of supply. The new covenant is, ‘I will’. That is what we come into as making room for faith, we come into the blessings. The new covenant is not made with us, but the spirit of the new covenant is to be enjoyed as faith and the Spirit are made room for. The grand result of that is that there are happy conditions among the brethren. The new covenant makes room for God, shuts out man and his thoughts, and makes room for God to operate and brings persons into the enjoyment of divine love. I think the new covenant and reconciliation are two things that we need to think about, as making room for the atmosphere of the house to be enjoyed. Reconciliation is that you come into the house and enjoy its atmosphere; you enjoy the kisses. We often speak about the robe and the ring, but more precious than all was that he covered him with kisses (see Luke 15: 20). That is reconciliation, that the son is brought in to the full enjoyment of the house.

This is where faith is leading us, shining into these dark circumstances in which we are. I appeal again to my own heart, as to us all – may we make way that the word of the report may profit us being mixed with faith, for God’s glory and praise.

LONDON

20 September 2003