By Faith

 

"A little while, and you will no longer see Me; and again, a little while, and you will see Me."  Some of His disciples then said to one another, "What is this thing He is telling us, 'A little while, and you will not see Me; and again, a little while, and you will see Me'; and 'because I go to the Father'?" So, they were saying, "What is this that He says, 'A little while'? We do not know what He is talking about." Jesus knew that they wished to question Him, and He said to them, "Are you deliberating together about this, that I said, 'A little while, and you will not see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me'?  "Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy.  "Whenever a woman is in labor, she has pain, because her hour has come; but when she gives birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy that a child has been born into the world.  "Therefore, you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.     John 16:16-22 

On the night before His crucifixion, Jesus had much to say to His disciples to prepare them for what would take place in the coming days. Chapters 13-17 of John’s Gospel include many of these instructions. As noted in the above conversation, the disciples were thoroughly confused with his lack of specificity as it relates to time. The Scriptures are filled with the accounts of many miraculous events when God revealed His supernatural abilities, but unless otherwise stated, the time lapses between the events are left unclear. Jesus was giving them a timeline of the coming church age, beginning with His ascension, and ending with His Second Coming. What connects these two major events is a little while. What connects spiritual events together in a believer’s life is a little while. Paul tells us that in 2 Corinthians 5:7, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Faith connects one promise of God to the next. "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH." 

What is Faith? 

Hebrews 11 is the chapter we go to when we want to read about faith and, in particular, many of those Old Testament saints who lived by faith. According to Hebrews 11:1-2 Amplified, NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]. For by [faith — trust and holy fervor born of faith] the men of old had divine testimony borne to them and obtained a good report [gained approval-NASB]. Faith confirms that hope for future promises is real. 

This amazing chapter defines real faith by what it looks like in human events as expressed by many people of the Bible we know about. Hebrews 11:6 also tells us what happens when there is no faith. But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out]. Faith requires two elements: to believe that He exists and that He rewards the ones who earnestly seek Him. In Psalm 58:11, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous.” 

Faith generates many different kinds of responses. Because it places its confidence in God, there are no restrictions as to what can happen. “For nothing will be impossible with God" (Luke 1:37). When there are no restrictions, the believer is free to believe in any outcome. Enoch believed and he got raptured. Noah constructed a big boat at a time when there had never been rain. Abraham left his home to go somewhere without knowing where. Sarah believed she could give birth at ninety years old. Abraham was willing to sacrifice his promised son. Moses believed that God would part the Red Sea. But the truth is that they were yearning for and aspiring to a better and more desirable country, that is, a heavenly [one]. For that reason, God is not ashamed to be called their God [even to be surnamed their God — the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob], for He has prepared a city for them (Hebrews 11:16 – Amplified).  

Great Faith

And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, and saying, "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented." Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him."  But the centurion said, "Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. "For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes, and to another, 'Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it." Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, "Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.       Matthew 8:5-10

When Jesus came to earth, He introduced a clear path to that city, and it was not through the Law of Moses. In Galatians 3:24-26, Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. In the above account, Jesus saw what great faith looked like in a Roman centurion, a non-Jew. He came to Jesus with a major problem and was willing to accept Jesus at His word! The essence of the believer’s faith is his acceptance of the Lord at His word; the Word of God is given great authority.   

There was a Canaanite woman (non-Jew) from the district of Tyre and Sidon who demonstrated great faith in Jesus (Matthew 15:21-28). She too came to Jesus for mercy, calling Him the Son of David, a term for Messiah. When Jesus said to her, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel," she responded by bowing down before Him saying, "Lord, help me!"  Jesus answered her, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." Why would Jesus want to meet a Gentile’s needs while He came for the Jews? It is interesting that this statement did not discourage her. Instead, she responded, "Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters' table." This was a sufficient response for Jesus to fulfill her wish. "O woman, your faith is great.” But why? It might be that she was not willing to take no for an answer from this God who is really not restricting Himself to be the God of the Jews only, but He is the Lord of all. 

Little Faith

On that day, when evening came, He said to them, "Let us go over to the other side."  Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?" And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Hush, be still." And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?"  They became very much afraid and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?"        Mark 4:35-41

It appears that Jesus purposely went to sleep in the stern of the boat while the storm was raging to let them know that He would be with them no matter what, even in the midst of difficult circumstances. …for He Himself has said, "I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU," so that we confidently say, "THE LORD IS MY HELPER; I WILL NOT BE AFRAID. WHAT WILL MAN DO TO ME?" (Hebrews 13:5-6). Just as the disciples awoke Him to rescue them, the believer is reminded that he too awakes the Lord in his prayers for every situation. When the miracle is needed, he does not need to be afraid as were the disciples. The believer’s faith is dependent on his willingness to trust the Lord in any and all situations. The great psychotherapist Viktor Frankl, who survived the Nazi concentration camps and authored the book Man’s Search for Meaning, wrote that we must always remember that we do not decide what the circumstances of our lives will be. Whether we will face tragedy or not on any given day is not up to us. The only thing we control is our own reaction and our choices in the face of the circumstances. Faith is a choice.

Looking for the Blessed Hope

Some of Jesus’s last instructions to His disciples were given in response to their questions regarding the signs of times when He returns again. His instructions began with His command in Matthew 24:42, "Therefore be on the alert [pay attention], for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.” Faith gets its confidence from both His First Coming and the promises of His Second Coming. In Verses 43-44, "But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. "For this reason, you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will. Walking by faith keeps the believer ready at all times.