Faith

What are the Conditions of Faith:

God’s Timing -‘By faith Moses…choosing rather to suffer’…Hebrews 11:24-25

‘By faith Moses refused.’ Faith rests on promise; to faith the promise is equivalent to fulfillment; and if only we have the one, we may dare to count on the other as already ours. It matters comparatively little that the thing promised is not given; it is sure and certain because God has pledged His word for it, and in anticipation we may enter on its enjoyment. Had Moses simply acted on what he saw, he had never left Pharaoh’s palace.

Evidently God’s time had not arrived, nor could it come until the heat of his spirit had slowly evaporated in the desert air and he had learned the hardest of all lessons, that “by strength shall no man prevail.”

Faith is only possible when we are on God’s plan and stand on God’s promise. It is useless to pray for increased faith until we have fulfilled the conditions of faith. It is useless to waste time on regrets and tears over the failures which are due to our unbelief.

Ascertain your place in God’s plan, and get on to it. Feed on God’s promises. When each of these conditions is realized, faith comes of itself, and there is absolutely nothing which is impossible. The believing souls will then be as the metal track along which God travels to men in love, grace, and truth. F.B. Meyer, Mrs. Charles E. Cowman- Springs in the Valley,

Our Father

“God Is My Father

Matthew 6:9

Pray, then, in this way: “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.” NASB

The two most important words in that pattern prayer are the first two words, “Our Father.”

First of all, we need to know that we can pray to a Father, that the world is not just a haphazard set of circumstances. It is not just a plaything of materialistic forces which no one can understand or control. We are more than just machines. We are more than just impulses. We are living, breathing human beings, created in the likeness of a God who loves us and cares for us and wants to be our Father. Behind everything in this world is not just some inanimate force, some mysterious power, but an eternal, living being, and He is our Father. He is in control. He created the world. He created us. He put us in the world. We are here because He put us here. That makes all the difference in the way we feel about life, about the world, about situations and circumstances. We don’t need to be lonely. We don’t need to be insecure. Everything is in the Father’s hand.

And then, “He is our Father,” He has a lot of children. We are just one of those children. We need to remember that the others are His children, too. We need to think about them, we need to care for one another. We need to be kind to one another. We need to provide for one another. We need to show the same love and compassion for one another that He shows for us. Remember, it’s our Father!”-Derek Prince

“The Divine Exchange: 10 Things Jesus Accomplished on the Cross” by Derek Prince Posted on May 25, 2010 by Paul Ellis // 32 Comments derek_prince I’ve been looking for an excuse to post something by Derek Prince ever since I started E2R. Recently I came across a series of five messages by Prince entitled The Divine Exchange. In this series Prince describes 10 things that Jesus did for you at the cross. It is a powerful message that will have you thanking Jesus for his love and sacrifice. Prince preached The Divine Exchange back in 1987. This message has since been transcribed word for word and turned into a free book. To encourage you to read this excellent book, here are some snippets from his introduction, followed by links to the 10 aspects of the divine exchange. “This young lady from Oklahoma spoke… ‘Consider the work of Calvary. A perfect work, perfect in every respect, perfect in every aspect.’ … Instantly my mind went to the Greek New Testament and one of the last utterances of Jesus on the cross when he said, ‘It is finished.’ The Greek word is just one word tetelestai. But it’s the perfect tense of a verb that means to do something perfectly. I have said sometimes you could translate it this way: It is perfectly perfect or it is completely complete. “At the close of the last session we had arrived at Isaiah 53:4–6… You know that the name of Isaiah is directly linked with the Hebrew word for salvation. He is the prophet of salvation. Here is the essence, the heart of salvation. We’ll look once more at verse 6 and consider its meaning a little more carefully. “All we like sheep have gone astray . . . “All we” leaves out no one. Do we agree about that? Does that apply to all of us? You don’t have to tell me but you need to make your mind up. “. . . we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. “That word ‘iniquity’ is an interesting and important word. The Hebrew word is avon… It’s basic meaning is guilt. Another way of rendering it is perversity. What is our guilt? … I think the most contemporary translation is ‘rebellion.’ That’s the universal guilt of the whole human race. But Isaiah says “the Lord has laid upon him the guilt [the perversity, the rebellion] of all of us. “The word avon not only means guilt but it means the punishment for guilt… So that God not only laid on Jesus the guilt of us all—now listen, this is vitally important—but he laid upon him the punishment for the guilt of us all… “Now that’s very important because it’s the key to understanding what happened when Jesus died on the cross. God the Father made to meet together upon him the guilt, the perversity, the rebellion of all of us and all the evil consequences that follow rebellion… “If you can once grasp that, that’s the key to the storehouse. Everything you need is contained in that revelation…Let me say it this way: What happened on the cross was a divinely ordained exchange. Think of that key word ‘exchange.’ All the evil due to our rebellion met together upon Jesus. That’s the left hand. The right hand is the opposite. That all the good due to the sinless obedience of Jesus might be made available to us… It’s contrary to our natural thinking, we wouldn’t reason it out that way. All the evil due to our rebellion came upon Jesus on the cross that all the good due to his sinless obedience might be made available to us. Or, to say it very shortly, the evil came upon Jesus that the good might be made available to us… “Now I want to change one word. Instead of saying “us” say “me.” Now it’s very personal, it’s just you and God. You know what they say at the cross? There’s only room for one at the foot of the cross? You’re the one now. You’re looking up at the cross, you see his body beaten, bleeding, a horrifying spectacle, something that you don’t really want even to look at or think about. And then you say this. ‘The evil due to me came upon Jesus that the good due to Jesus might be made available to me.’ That’s right. It’s when you make it personal. Now you may not have felt any change but you have opened the way to the treasure house when you’ve grasped that one central fact… “Let’s look at some aspects of the exchange. I’ve listed ten. I don’t want you to imagine for a moment that’s complete, it’s just a specimen. You may recall that when the Lord spoke to me through that young woman from Oklahoma he said, ‘Consider the work of Calvary, a perfect work, perfect in every respect, perfect in every aspect.’ So there are respects and there are aspects. We are going to look at ten different aspects of the work of Calvary. Ten different ways to view what God accomplished there by the death of Jesus. Jesus was punished that we might be forgiven Jesus was wounded that we might be healed Jesus was made sin with our sinfulness, that we might be made righteous with His righteousness Jesus tasted death for us that we might share His life Jesus was made a curse that we might receive the blessing Jesus endured our poverty that we might share His abundance Jesus bore our shame that we might share His glory Jesus endured my rejection that I might have His acceptance with the Father He was cut off that we might be joined to the Lord Our Old Man was put to death in Him that the New Man might come to life in us _________

Faith:

Faith is believing what God has said:

The king’s officer pleaded with Him, Sir, do come down at once before my little child is dead! Jesus answered him, Go in peace; your son will live! And the man put his trust in what Jesus said and started home. But even as he was on the road going down, his servants met him and reported, saying, Your son lives! (John 4:49-51)

Faith is believing what God has said, just as the king’s officer who took Jesus at His Word! Faith honors God and puts God into action on our behalf!

“Without faith it is impossible to please God.” (Heb. 11:6)

THE RESURECTION AN ESTABLISHED FACT OF HISTORY: The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is not a myth or even a legend but an established Fact: “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭15:3-6, 20‬ ‭NIV‬‬ Professor Thomas Arnold, author of History of Rome and appointed to the chair of modern history at Oxford: “I have been used for many years to study the histories of other times, and to examine and weigh the evidence of those who have written about them, and I know of no one fact in the history of mankind which is proved by better and fuller evidence of every sort, to the understanding of a fair inquirer, than the great sign which God bath given us that Christ died and rose again from the dead.” Brooke Foss Wescott (a famed scholar of the 19th century): “There is no historic incident better or more variously supported than the resurrection of Christ.” Dr. Paul L. Maier (a prominent professor of ancient history): “No shred of evidence has yet been discovered in literary sources, epigraphy or archaeology that would disprove that the tomb in which Jesus was buried was actually empty on the morning of the 1st Easter.” Dr. Simon Greenleaf (a very famous Harvard University professor of Law): “According to the laws of legal evidence used in courts of law, there is more evidence for the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ than for just about any other event in history.”

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ:

THE RESURECTION AN ESTABLISHED FACT OF HISTORY:

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is not a myth or even a legend but an established Fact:

“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭15:3-6, 20‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Professor Thomas Arnold, author of History of Rome and appointed to the chair of modern history at Oxford: “I have been used for many years to study the histories of other times, and to examine and weigh the evidence of those who have written about them, and I know of no one fact in the history of mankind which is proved by better and fuller evidence of every sort, to the understanding of a fair inquirer, than the great sign which God bath given us that Christ died and rose again from the dead.”

Brooke Foss Wescott (a famed scholar of the 19th century): “There is no historic incident better or more variously supported than the resurrection of Christ.”

Dr. Paul L. Maier (a prominent professor of ancient history): “No shred of evidence has yet been discovered in literary sources, epigraphy or archaeology that would disprove that the tomb in which Jesus was buried was actually empty on the morning of the 1st Easter.”

Dr. Simon Greenleaf (a very famous Harvard University professor of Law): “According to the laws of legal evidence used in courts of law, there is more evidence for the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ than for just about any other event in history.”

God is Our Father:

“God Is My Father

Matthew 6:9

Pray, then, in this way: “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.” NASB

The two most important words in that pattern prayer are the first two words, “Our Father.”

First of all, we need to know that we can pray to a Father, that the world is not just a haphazard set of circumstances. It is not just a plaything of materialistic forces which no one can understand or control. We are more than just machines. We are more than just impulses. We are living, breathing human beings, created in the likeness of a God who loves us and cares for us and wants to be our Father. Behind everything in this world is not just some inanimate force, some mysterious power, but an eternal, living being, and He is our Father. He is in control. He created the world. He created us. He put us in the world. We are here because He put us here. That makes all the difference in the way we feel about life, about the world, about situations and circumstances. We don’t need to be lonely. We don’t need to be insecure. Everything is in the Father’s hand.

And then, “He is our Father,” He has a lot of children. We are just one of those children. We need to remember that the others are His children, too. We need to think about them, we need to care for one another. We need to be kind to one another. We need to provide for one another. We need to show the same love and compassion for one another that He shows for us. Remember, it’s our Father.”

—Derek Prince