The description of faith in the Bible: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). Substance is something you can get hold of, so that puts faith in a category of reality and not a “hope-so” situation. When we tie this thought to that in Hebrews 11:6:
“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.”
We can see that faith, in God’s sight, is not a casual after-thought. In this definition, faith truly is that sixth sense, so real one can almost taste or feel it. That kind of faith knows what it means to believe that God IS, and is coupled with an expectation of reward for believing.
Not many in the broad number of believers have experienced a steady diet of that kind of faith, suspect. Could we call it the “George Mueller model of faith?” Yet, faith is proclaimed to be a gift from God. Initially, at the point of salvation, the Scripture says:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).
And even further, as Paul writes in Romans 12:3:
“For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.”
Even so, we are all told to:
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8).
Realities are the substance that faith had foreseen, now the evidence in hand and visible. Hebrews 11:3 says:
“By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.”
God says that evidence leaves man with no excuse (Romans 1:20 and Psalm 19). The evidences show up in strange and unexpected ways. Often I am at a medical facility , checking in for an appointment, and for identity purposes, I am asked, “What is your date of birth?” When I relate that information, the year being 1934, I am testifying that Jesus Christ was born that many years ago, according to the calendar. (Actually, it was possibly four or so years before then, like 4 B.C.)
Even the atheists are making that statement, unknowingly! Thus, those prophecies In the Old Testament, such as Isaiah 6:6-7 and others, that told of His coming were realities that became real and are “facts on the ground” that God has shown that His promises are true and reliable.
Then we have prophecy fulfillments evident in current events, such as the return of the Jews to their age-old homeland, the land of Israel. It definitely is a fulfillment of Bible promises to the Jews and made centuries before the birth of Christ (Ezekiel 36). It is truly surprising that some do not admit this is evidence of God’s promise being fulfilled.
Yet the Jews are in Israel, not the Church, and it looks like God has salvaged the Jews from destruction at every turn. He has prepared a table before them in the presence of their enemies, who are infuriated, vowing always to wipe them off the face of the earth!
Years ago I was talking with a friend who had grown up in Missouri, and he related to me some interesting background on the birth of Israel as a new nation on May 14, 1948. He told me that where Harry Truman grew up in Independence, Missouri, he had a Jewish family as neighbors, and their plight as a people without a recognized homeland became a well-known topic with the Truman family over those years.
Later, when Harry Truman became president, and the issue of Israeli statehood was being decided in the United Nations, he quickly moved to vote in favor of Israeli statehood, for the United States, within moments of the announcement for a vote of approval.
When James wrote that if a person fails even one point of the law, he is guilty of the whole law, it seems to establish a principle that could apply in this manner as to the claim that God has rejected His promises to the Jews. That is, if one would believe that God lied on even one promise, or did not believe even one of His promises, it would be as if he did not believe any of them, or that God is not trustworthy on any of His promises.
What an indictment that is for those who claim that God’s promises to the Jews are not valid! Their knees should hit the ground immediately, while they are crying out, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” The prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, along with many of the minor prophets, cannot be honestly be read without finding repeated promises of God’s plan to restore Israel to its historical homeland that was promised to Abraham and his physical descendants.
Now we can see developing quite a phenomenon in the matter of the church of Rome and its new Pope Francis. That advanced notice from the twelfth century that this Pope in the numerical succession would be the last Pope was not a prophecy in the Word of God. Yet, the circumstances of the prior Pope’s resignation with his scramble for timing of it seems too cohesive to be an ordinary playing out of events.
The fact is, though, John did prophecy that a second beast would appear on the scene who would uplift and support that first seven-headed beast and would have two horns like a lamb (which must be concealed, for no lamb start out with horns—they develop as the lamb becomes mature.
Declarations of this Pope already have many of his subjects concerned—such as, “Atheists can go to heaven if they follow their consciences.” Repentance and belief in Jesus Christ seems to have been discarded in favor of humanistic doctrine of deception that prepares followers for a total rejection of God’s plan of redemption. Think about Paul’s portrayal of the future:
“Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron…” (1 Timothy 4:1-2).
The Camel’s Nose Appears
The tale of the camel getting its nose under the edge of the tent as merely being the first step to occupation of the whole tent seems to be a realization of reality in America today. There is no direct mention of the United States in prophecy, and having heard Henry Kissinger’s declaration that Obama has been primed to lead us into a New World Order, we can readily assess the progress he has made toward that goal.
In order to accomplish a New World Order, a/k/a One World Government, there can be no individual sovereign countries or even dictator-controlled entities. Now, in mid-2015, America is fast becoming a third-world country in many aspects. It is being overrun by illegal immigrants, economic realities are devastating, national debt has doubled in the six years of the Obama Administration with nothing to show for it.
The military force has been down-sized to its pre-World War II strength, corruption is openly evident and unchecked in practically every federal government agency, and…should we go on? The bottom line is this: America’s sovereignty is teetering on the edge of collapse and Obama is not finished with his second term.
There is a strong possibility, I feel, that there will not be any 2016 election, for the global elite who yearn for that New World Order have never come this far in their pursuit of that goal, and they will not turn back now. Bible prophecy speaks of a seven-headed beast which will appear in the last days (Revelation 13), which will be, like the six that preceded this one, will be a world-controlling empire—exactly the goal of the New World Order cronies. Think about realities being real!
Some Real Prophetic Realities
There is the view among many—much more than we realize—who have been taught and may believe that almost all Bible prophecies were fulfilled by the time of the A.D. 70 destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish temple by Titus and his Roman soldiers. Those prophecies that did not make sense to the early promoters of this doctrine were relegated to meaningless allegories having to relationship to the reality of things to come.
As early as the second century these suppositions became fixed in place in the early church, then picked up and embraced by the Roman church. From there it spilled out into the Protestant movement and carries through to this day. Thus, we have the following beliefs being perpetuated as the background belief of many Christians today:
1. The belief that the Millennium reign of Christ, His thousand-year reign over the earth, began at that time—A.D. 70, and that He is ruling His kingdom from His throne in heaven.
· The common sense answer to this is , first, the thousand years, a millennium, has now grown to two thousand years, so that leaves that claim empty. Second, the Bible says He will rule that period from the throne of David in Jerusalem (Isaiah 9:7 and Zechariah 8:3) and with a rod of iron (Revelation 12:5). It is obvious that He is not doing that, but sinfulness is running rampant over the whole earth.
2. Satan was bound with chains and thrown into the bottomless pit, where he now remains, and that he was so conquered at the crucifixion or at the time of the A.D. 70 destruction.
· One reason it is obvious that Jesus is not ruling the earth now with a rod of iron is that Satan, still the prince of this world, “walks about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour,” just as Peter declared in 1 Peter 5:8.
· The Bible declares, at the beginning of Revelation 20, that it is then, at the beginning of the thousand years, that he is cast into the bottomless pit.
3. There is no such thing as the Rapture.
· The transforming action is described, first, by Jesus in John 11:25-26, then Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:50-54, and again, in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.
· The timing of its happening in relation to other events is presented in 2 Thessalonians 2:6-8.
It is obvious that the principle of Acts 17:11, that a person should search the Word out for himself and not rely on what someone else has said, is sadly lacking in the swarm of false doctrines that abound. You should use that principle in regard to this article.