37 - For, “Yet a little while,
and the coming one [Jesus’ Second Coming] will come and will not delay;
38 - but my righteous one shall live by faith,
and if he shrinks back,
my soul has no pleasure in him.”
Though mocked, battered and bruised the Christian’s great hope is Christ’s promised Second Coming and our resurrection and gathering to Him. Yes we can experience God’s love and blessings in this life but whilst living in this fallen World, tempted of the Devil and the vile desires of this corrupt fallen flesh… we suffer torment. Yet having faith in God’s many promises towards us, we looking to the World to come, lift up our heads and march ever forward…
This the World would say, “is blind faith and utter stupidity”, and so they mock on.
Recently while visiting a local family I declared that ‘you do not need faith to know that there is a God… but you do need faith to be saved’. Having then been challenged on this point, I found my reply wanting… and it has been playing on my mind ever since.
The family I visited were father, Mother and a single young daughter. Now if in some years to come their daughter, at a party should call her Father in some distress, claiming that the party was getting out of control and further, that she felt afraid, vulnerable and threatened by the advances of a drunken young man. Her faith in her Father to come and rescue her… and to rescue her speedily would not be a groundless ‘blind faith’ but would be solidly based on their relationship.
For through the years their relationship had developed, she would have discovered if he was faithful and trustworthy, seen his love and tender care towards her and experienced his desire for her welfare, even above his own. And so by this, she having finished her call, replacing the handset would be greatly emboldened against the advances of this drunken stranger… knowing full well that her deliverer and protector should arrive shortly. So now comforted by a peace that few could bestow, she can endure her heart stayed by her faith in her father’s sure promise towards her, knowing full well that he would certainly fulfil that which he had promised. And so, if she being stayed by the promise of a mere man, much more us… by the promises of the living God!
However, if stepping out of the party she happened upon a dark stranger passing by, asking him to deliver her home, she being unsure if he would help, take advantage or harm her would be in much fear and trepidation desperately hoping against hope that he would deliver her home safely... having ‘no faith’ in him. And further, if she should then throw all caution to the wind and wholeheartedly trusted in this midnight prowler, that would indeed be ‘blind faith’, and yes… utter folly.
However, the diligent Christian having spent much time with Jesus in prayer and in His Word will soon discover that His promises are indeed sure. For buried within the pages of both Testaments are numerous prophecies, of which the fulfilment of many we find recorded in secular history.
And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts,
Many will say “These were penned after the event” yet we only have to reflect on the many prophecies of His ‘First Coming’ having been translated from the Old Hebrew Testament into Greek [The Septuagint version] hundreds of years before Christ ever appeared, of which even secular history... grudgingly acknowledges.
In a Greek speaking World, the ancient Hebrew text which included hundreds of prophecies regarding the life, death and resurrection of Christ were translated into Greek hundreds of years before Jesus fulfilled them. Thus even secular history confirms that these prophecies existed in black and white before Jesus was born. And we haven’t even touched upon the Dead Sea Scrolls, penned much earlier.
Then of the prophecies of Daniel and Isaiah informing us of the very day Jesus would present Himself to Jerusalem as the King of the Jews, and not one day before! Of where He would be born [Bethlehem], that He would live in Egypt, grow-up in Nazareth and why and in what manner He would lay down His life. Many of these found recorded in the ‘Dead Sea Scrolls’. And then in the New Testament we find the words of Jesus prophesying the soon destruction of both Jerusalem and their beloved Temple, of which secular history confirms took place in 70AD, 38 years after He spoke it.
And we have not even touched upon the well known prophesied captivity of Israel in Babylon, and their prophesied release by the Persian King, Cyrus exactly seventy years later as God had foretold. Cyrus whom God had named even before he was born, who soon after conquering Babylon paid money and gave the Jews authority, not only to return and rebuild Jerusalem but to rebuild their beloved Temple also… once again all recorded for us in secular history. However, what I have so far mentioned only but scratches the surface of the mass of Bible prophecy foretold.
28 - who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,
and he shall fulfill all my purpose’
saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’
and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’
45:1 - Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,
whose right hand I have grasped,
to subdue nations before him
and to loose the belts of kings,
to open doors before him
that gates may not be closed:
2 - “I will go before you
and level the exalted places,
I will break in pieces the doors of bronze
and cut through the bars of iron,
3 - I will give you the treasures of darkness
and the hoards in secret places,
that you may know that it is I, the Lord,
the God of Israel, who call you by your name.
4 - For the sake of my servant Jacob,
and Israel my chosen,
I call you by your name,
I name you, though you do not know me.
5 - I am the Lord, and there is no other,
besides me there is no God;
I equip you, though you do not know me,
6 - that people may know, from the rising of the sun
and from the west, that there is none besides me;
I am the Lord, and there is no other
Having not yet mentioned the chronological order prophesied of the kingdoms of the World we are further informed of what is soon to take place upon the Earth... in these last days. For as He promised, Jesus visited the apostle John before this last disciple gave-up the ghost, and dictated to him the book of the Revelation that we Christians might know what is soon to follow and thus not suffer alarm with the rest of World.
1 - The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants [Christians] the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,
2 - who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.
3 - Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.
They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.”
So yes, faith is believing in things yet unseen… but it is not a ‘blind faith’ as the World would have it if it is in the Lord, by those of us who know Him.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the sign that the things not seen are true.
For the Christian who has spent time with their Lord, who have sounded out His promises and found Him to be true… It is not a blind faith nor is it folly but it is the power of God for those of us who believe.
14 - How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
15 - And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
16 - But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?”
17 - So faith comes from hearing, and hearing [and reading] through the word of Christ.
Having personally spent some time studying the prophecies, from the cults interpretations to the truth, I firmly believe that the studious seeker will discover that hundreds upon hundreds of prophecies in the Old Testament were written before they were fulfilled. Not loosely prophesied nor loosely fulfilled but precisely. Many of which are confirmed in secular history… thus the honest soul will acknowledge that the author must exist outside of time… who as Scripture confirms, has used mere men to pen His mysteries.
For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
Having this sound foundation under our feet, be it the understanding of prophecy by untrusting sceptics as myself or the overwhelming presence of the Lord enjoyed by those who have spent much time in His presence… we believe, even in those promises and prophesies yet to be fulfilled. This is not blind faith as some would suppose, but faith firmly fixed on a sound and immovable foundation.
We do not need faith to believe there is a God, for even the demons believe and shudder (James 2:19), but faith in those things promised that are yet unfulfilled, even the salvation of our souls.
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
And for those who trust in lying spirits, false gods, money, position or family... they too will soon discover that these will not save. For yes, you can have faith in a lie... which will be found a lie just when you need it most!
So when these ‘last things’ begin to take place, they shall be a terror and a horror for the many, but for few who believe... a comfort.
26 - Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.
27 - At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
28 - When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.
