Lessons Of A Lifetime

True Redeeming Faith
Or
True Surrendering Faith
Sunday Feb. 27, 2022

Scripture To Consider:
“Then Jesus again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, ‘Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not say to you that if you believe you would see the glory of God?’”

“Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted us His eyes and said, ‘Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.’”

“Now when He had said these things, Jesus cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come forth!’ And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Loose him, and let him go.’”

“Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him. But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, ‘What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.’”

“And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, ‘You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.’ Now this he did say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad.”

“Then, from that day on, they plotted to put Him to death. Therefore, Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews [Jewish leaders] but went from there into the country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim, and there remained with His disciples.”                        John 11.38-54

Something To Consider:
Martha, probably the oldest of the family, must have given her permission to remove the stone. If so, then it reveals that true redeeming faith is a surrendering faith. It proves that true redeeming faith surrenders to God’s will and to God’s command. Are we exemplifying true redeeming faith in our lives? Have we surrendered to the will of God? And is that surrendering faith present tense?

And yet, what is faith? The biblical definition is found in Hebrews 11.1. “Now faith is the substance [or realization] of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Now that does not mean that we can simply hope for certain things and expect them to come to pass. If so, that would be God surrendering to our will and not the other way around.

For instance, many very gullible Christians are hoping in a pre-tribulation rapture. Why is that? Is it because the bible teaches such a concept, or is it because false prophets and false so-called teachers have so twisted the Scripture that the majority of church goers have been deceived into believing a lie?

This false pre-tribulation lie deceives a person into hoping they will not be upon the earth during the tribulation and the reign of the Antichrist. But, the biblical evidence reveals a very different redeeming faith end to these end times that we are fast approaching.

Something Else To Consider:
What does that mean to each of us right where we are today? What is it, or who is it, that God is requesting his or her willingness to surrender to God’s biblical evidence in order to reveal His miracle working power? The will of God will be done, but will it be done with or without our surrendering to His will? If we do not surrender to His will, we will suffer the consequences!

The apostle Paul declared in 1 Corinthians 2.5; “Your [our] faith [true present tense redeeming and surrendering faith] should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”  He added in 2 Corinthians 5.7; “We walk [or live] by faith, not by sight.” In other words, around 1830, the wisdom of so-called religious men began falsely proclaiming a pre-tribulation rapture theory of which there was and is no biblical evidence.

But what this false message did have was the ability to compromise the biblical message and warning to be spiritually prepared. This demonic message became that which recent generations have hoped in rather than their obtaining true redeeming and true surrendering faith to Jesus Christ and His written, preserved, and revealed word of warning. This deceptive message has also kept the financial coffers of the so-called church full!

Something More To Consider:
Let us not be as the council of religious but not spiritual leaders who were only concerned about their position and place of power and authority being jeopardized. What situation or relationship in our lives stinks as the stench of four days, four weeks, four months, or four years worth of death? What is it that has died in our lives that God through Jesus Christ stands ready to powerfully resurrect?

What biblical evidence does God prefer us to surrender to? Jesus affirmed in Matthew 24.11-12, speaking of the end times, in which we are living; “Then many [not some] false prophets will rise up and deceive many [not some]. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many [not some] will grow cold.” Only those who possess true redeeming and true surrendering faith will endure to the end!

A Few Final Words:
What will we do? Will we remain in our death ridden compromising commas? Or will we endure to the end of whatever while trusting in the power of God to either protect and to provide, or to usher us home into eternity and into His everlasting presence? What is it that we are hoping for in the end?

Are we hoping for the biblical outcome, or are we hoping in the unsubstantiated lawless decrees of the many false prophets Jesus warned us of in advance? If we are the final generation, and I believe that we are according to the biblical record of end time events, will we be deceived or will be delivered by the power of our Almighty God?

Will we be found by Jesus yielding to the growing cold messages of the many end time false prophets, or will we yield to the true redeeming faith that proclaims that true faith is strongest when it is a surrendered faith? And if that is our heart-felt desire, God will infuse us with new life where once only death resided.

“Now when Jesus had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come forth!’” Let us exchange our name for the name of Lazarus this day!

Prayer:
Our Father in heaven, teach us to willingly surrender our faith to Jesus, that He may work the miracle of giving true present tense redeeming life to that which is dead. In Him Always, Amen!