Do You Have Enduring Faith?

Romanized Christianity has challenged and at times threatened true Christians since about the second century AD. You look back at what Romanized Christianity has brought to the world. One thing it has brought is an immense clutter of false teachings. These false teachings need to be recognized because they are borrowed from Greek, they are borrowed from Persian, and especially Babylonian ideals that reach back all the way to the time of Nimrod. You'll see the head of gold and the other aspects of the image of Daniel portrayed as what this world currently worships. It comes on down to the Romanized belly and legs and feet. This system has challenged, has persecuted, and has threatened true Christians since its inception. Some of the false teachings have included not keeping God's law and a pressure not to keep those very things that Jesus Christ was a symbol of, including the Sabbath, of which He is the Lord, the Holy Days, which He kept, the apostles kept, and proclaimed God's plan of salvation, the very law which was replaced by a Romanized version of law, and then the religion itself, which the Romanized Christian religion is drawn from many different types of religions, from the mysteries of Babylon, and that term mystery is used even today in Romanized religion. Frequently, often, the mysteries of the Babylonic religion, coupled with the polytheism that existed of the many gods, the various gods that at times involved great gods that were worshiped with temples during the Roman period, and let's not forget that there was no single god during the Roman period, and there continues to be no single source of worship in Romanized Christianity, but rather a polytheistic view of a Father, a Jesus Christ, that somehow are one, but then a Queen Mother of Heaven that descends down from the Babylonian times, from the Egyptians, and from other cultures that continues to be worshiped to this day. A polytheism of many gods that is then also put on top of a layer of Gnosticism, a knowledge, a higher knowledge, a former identity, a former life, a connection with the ether, the other world, the spiritual world, and a reconnection with that spiritual world, and some of the powers, some of the angelic or other deities that are in that world, the interplay that goes on there. And within this great mix, we have a mental concept that challenges and tries to erode the faith and confidence of true Christians. Coupled with that are many other religions and then no religion at all. Not only is Romanized Christianity a type of religion, there have been 10,000 daughters, as it were, that came out of that mother. There are 10,000 organized different Christian religions in our modern world, all teaching and believing some different ideas. This causes an array and a doubt in people. If there's only one God and only one truth, why are there so many different, even Christian so-called religions? One of the mindsets of that that is really liberal is an evangelical mindset where as long as we get together and we do something for Jesus, it doesn't matter what we do. It doesn't matter what we do. Anything we do is fine. Everything we do is fine. Any ideas, any rituals, any laws, any celebration, it's all fine. It's all good no matter what we do as long as we do something.

And this is very emotionally charged. It gets a lot of people involved. It has a lot of little appendages to it in small group situations where people are empowered to either go listen or to participate and co-teach. It's just this poly mess of ideas and constructs that elevate the self and enrich the self to a high degree of emotion, which unfortunately burns out after about 10 or so years. There isn't substance to it. The emotion cannot be maintained, and therefore the ratcheting of emotion goes higher and higher until there is a collapse.

The fallout from that is solo religion. The belief that organized religion is not necessary. You don't need any religion. And where before a person believed that anything went for the group, now anything goes for me. Anything goes for me. I can do anything or nothing. And that's even better. And that's good. After a while, other forms and ideas enter in, like agnosticism, which is, I'm not sure there is a God. I mean, after all, look at all the religious concepts and religious cultures that exist around the planet. Everybody talks about a God, but I'm not sure there really is a God. And so that individual shifts into neutral and is unsure about everything.

Another version is atheism. And that's a belief that there is no God, there is no mind that created everything. We all evolved. And then there's a curious one as well, and it's a so-called Christian who is an evolutionist, who believes that God did not create everything, but somehow God used evolution to create everything. And therefore you have a Christian, so-called, who goes through whatever level of worship he or she wants, but doesn't believe that God is the author of their own bodies or the creation around them. It's kind of a mess, isn't it? It's kind of a mess. If you think that that is odd, coming in the future, things even get more challenging for faith-based people, because religious individuals will even face an array of things that will be more delusional out there as we go forward. Jesus Christ warned of false teachers coming in the future who would be able to deceive, if possible, even the very elect. And there's a reason for that, I believe. I think there's a fundamental reason. We'll get into that in just a moment. But turn with me now, if you will, to Revelation 3, verse 11. Let's see what people ahead... Let's look at the right spot.

Revelation 3. Revelation 13, verse 11. We were told that Jesus Christ said, many will come in my name, saying that I am the Christ. We were told that an individual will stand up and cause all people on earth to worship him. That's quite a twist from what we see today. So you take individuals who are trying to be religious and look where we're going.

Revelation 13, he performs great signs so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. Here we have individuals who now shift from whatever it is they believe, and now they are in some way worshipping an image, and they're seeing miracles take place.

And once again, this delusion of religion has steered them in another direction. But they're faithless, and so they are seeing signs that replace the need for faith. And those signs in the absence of faith are very powerful. And if the elect did not have faith, they would also be deceived. But it says at the end of verse 15, he causes as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.

So there is a requirement for all peoples within this environment that's being spoken of to have a religion, a certain religion. And the expectations loom large here. The miracles are great. The system moves forward. Jesus asked an interesting question. He said, when the Son of Man comes, will he really find faith on earth? Why did he ask that question? When the Son of Man comes, will he really find faith on the earth? Passover is all about faith. Passover is all about trust. Passover is all about confidence.

You cannot approach the Passover without faith, trust, and confidence and take it in a manner that God would call worthy. Otherwise, we would be approaching the symbols of the Passover saying, I don't believe Christ existed. I don't believe he died for my sins. I don't believe his blood will wash away my sins. But I'm here just in case, kind of an insurance policy. It's not possible to keep the Passover without faith and trust in God because Jesus is the way to the kingdom of God.

He is the truth. He is the Word of God. He is the life because he brings life and he is the one that will change humans into spirit beings. The Passover and this way of life that we're involved in involves repentance, doesn't it? You can't be sitting around wondering if God exists and diligently repenting and overcoming your human nature.

You can't be asking for forgiveness and desiring the resurrection without confidence that it all is true. So the question I think for us is how deep is our faith? How deep is your faith? How deep is my faith? What's really there? And will it endure all things and stand at the end when Jesus Christ returns? Well, let's look at that today. Do you have enduring faith? I think you will find by the end of the sermon some very positive things as well as some growth opportunities that we have in this concept of faith.

Faith is a fascinating concept of God. I don't fully understand why God does it this way, but let's establish something here right up front. Faith is required for salvation, at least for the first fruits. Faith is required for salvation, at least for the first fruits. That may raise a question or two, and that's fine. We'll look at that in just a moment.

But this is a fascinating concept. Maybe we just take for granted, but let's look at it for a minute. God, for some reason, chooses not to reveal Himself with proof. How many of you have seen a footprint somewhere of God's? Maybe out in the strata and they dug it up. Oh, look, this proves God exists. Here's His footprint, right next to a dinosaur or something.

We have God's footprint. Do we have any God sightings? Does God speak to you and me? Does He give announcements, eat Sabbath? Does He sort of talk to you as you pray, answer back? No. For some reason, God chooses not to reveal Himself with proof. There's no physical evidence. There are no photos of God. You notice that? There's no speech. For some reason, God requires of us faith.

Now, proof would be helpful. It really, really would. Sometimes we just love to have a little proof. It just would be helpful, wouldn't it? But we don't have that luxury. It's interesting that there's no proof that Jesus ever existed. You think there is, probably. Where is it? Where is it? People argue and say this Bible and the stories in the Bible are just mythology and stories made up. Can you go to Jesus's house? Can you find what He wrote? Can you see His handwriting somewhere? Can you pick up anything in archaeology? Can you dig down and find a thing that says, Jesus was here?

Or, I knew Jesus. I heard Jesus. It's funny. It's sort of not there. You'd think somebody that made such a big impression on the Romans and the Jews, somebody would have written something. Maybe Josephus said something, but then Josephus was such a liar who could believe Josephus. Now, you would think that somebody as great as Jesus Christ who rose from the dead, there would be some record of it.

There would be something. How many of you have been to Jerusalem? How many of you have ever been to a place where Jesus went in Jerusalem? Are you sure? Where would that be? I've been to a supposed grave, but it turned out that was a more modern place. It was about a thousand years, I think, afterwards.

I went to a place where He was crucified, supposedly, and we believed that for a while. It turned out to just be an erosion next to a bus station that was relatively recent. That didn't work out. I've trampled all over the Middle East, where Jesus might have been, could have been, but never necessarily where He was. Even in digging around at the Temple Mount, there's arguments as to whether this is even the foundation of the Temple, let alone any stairway that He may have walked up, for sure.

It's possible that they know where the Garden of Gethsemane is, but then they have no idea, for sure. And so on and so forth it goes, you see. Those who believe, believe in the traditional sites. He certainly didn't walk down the Via Delorosa. We know that. But other than that, where's the proof? Where's the proof? God chooses not to reveal Himself with proof to the firstfruits, to those of us now in this generation, at a time when it would be very nice if He did. Kind of erase all of this and set the record straight for evolution and intelligent design and creationism.

He'd just step in and set us all straight. It'd be really, really good. The Bible says in Romans chapter 10, verse 8, that God requires faith. And this isn't just a fluke. It's not because Jesus Christ didn't exist. Not that at all. But it's set up in a way whereby only a few are going to be called at this time. Only a few are going to be chosen, I should say, at this time, though many are called. Only a few are going to be able to walk right up to the kingdom, as it were, with strength and with power and with might. And those are the ones that are going to reign and rule in the kingdom with God.

Part of the way that God screens those and develops people is through this concept of faith. Romans chapter 10, beginning in verse 8. But what does it say? The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart. Notice that is the word of faith, which we preach. We don't preach a word of proof. We're not part of the archaeological groups of the world that run around digging up proof and providing evidence. Evidence of the flood or evidence of the Exodus. Evidence of Jesus Christ being here. No, it's a word of faith, which we preach. That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

You see what salvation is based on for us? We have to believe something we can't see. We have to really trust with our own heart and profess with our own mouth that which cannot be known by any other source other than this word of God. And that requires faith. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness. Now, that's the way God has set it up. With the heart one believes unto righteousness. And with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

For the Scripture says whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame. You see several references in the New Testament about He who believes in Christ, the same will be saved, etc. And we say, well, it's not just the belief. You also have to do the action and faith without works is dead and all this.

But I think we're missing the point. Believing in God to the depth that you will obey and put your life in His hands and you will work at overcoming has a faith, and this relationship with God is faith-based. In Hebrews 11 and verse 6 is a very strong statement that should show us what God has in mind. Hebrews 11 and verse 6, it says, But without faith, if you only have proof, if you only have absolute rock-solid evidence, without faith it is impossible to please Him. So we see here from God's standpoint, He has made it this way. He has made it. And people can laugh and jeer and poke. They can try to dissuade you.

They can try to save you. They can... whatever. But if... At the end of the day, what it comes down to is a confidence and a trust and a rock-solid belief that what is in this Bible is truth. And others don't have it. There's no other religion that takes this Bible 100%, every page, every word, and lives by it. It just doesn't happen because there's no faith in confidence in all of it.

Now there's faith in confidence in parts of it, but not all of it. So here, God has set it up that He who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

That's interesting. You have to believe that God is, and then know that you will obtain a reward by diligently seeking somebody you have no proof exists other than faith. And that's who God is promoting into His Kingdom when Jesus Christ returns. It's a very interesting concept. Faith is crucial, and yet at the same time, faith actually is temporary. Faith is a very temporary thing. Angels don't have faith. Everything about that? Angels have no faith that God exists. They have proof that God exists.

If you have proof, you can't have faith. God exists because they're around God all the time. They see God. They don't have faith that God exists. You are not around God as far as on that spiritual plane where you can see Him and interact with Him. Therefore, you have faith that God exists. There is a day coming when you will be with God the Father. God the Father will dwell with His family, with His sons, His daughters. We won't have faith at that time that God exists. We won't have faith that He is. We won't even have hope that He is. We will have evidence. We will have proof. So faith, in a sense, is temporary, but it's very crucial. Right now, just for us, faith is so important to God. Very, very important for God. In 1 Corinthians 13, 13, you don't have to turn there, but it says, Right now abides or exists faith, hope, and love, these three. Faith, hope, love, these three. We are saved by grace through faith. Sounds like a pretty important thing, and it is. You're not going to be saved by grace without faith. But Paul goes on, the greatest of these is actually love. It's actually love because love is the family mentality. We'll talk about that next week.

Faith, someday, will end. Faith, someday, will be replaced with the real thing, with the real family, the real relationship. All the things in the Bible that we have faith in now will someday become reality.

I guess we will always have the faith that our Father and His Son and those in the family will always do the right thing. But as far as faith in the existence and faith in the kingdom of God coming and faith in the resurrection and faith in the power of the blood of Jesus Christ, someday all of that will have been proven. So faith right now is most important for the ones who will be the firstfruits at the return of Jesus Christ. It's a very important component of salvation for this group of firstfruits. You know, at the Second Coming, faith ends. Faith in Christ ends at the return of Jesus Christ, because every eye will see Him. Then the world won't need faith in Christ. Guess what? They won't need faith in the family of God and the rulers, either because Jesus Christ or the Bible tells us through His inspiration that your teachers will not be removed into a corner. You will see them, and you will hear a voice behind you. Now that group in the millennium, and what they call the Second Resurrection, that time when all people will have a chance, will be led and guided by spirit beings they will be able to see. Something unique about this firstfruits group who are called Blessed and Holy, who has a part in this First Resurrection. They have faith. And the Father of the faithful is Abraham. These people have amazing faith in a time that requires deep trust in God, and He rewards them with a great reward. But right now, we don't have proof, and so the firstfruits must believe. We must trust. It's a required component of those who are chosen at this time. Without faith, everything we do would just be ceremony and form. You can have a religious service, but it's your own kind of format, isn't it? It's your own little ceremonies. It's the things that you invent. It's the things that you create in order to worship. It's just a bunch of ceremony and a bunch of form that you put yourself through.

Those are empty actions. Those are useless actions. They don't accomplish anything. Jesus Christ said that. In vain do they worship Me. Teaching for doctrines is the commandments of men. They've developed form and ceremony, but it's in vain. It's a useless worship. Many will come to Me in that day saying, Oh, we did this and we did that. We had our form and we had our ceremony. You say, Depart from Me. I never knew you. You who practice lawlessness. In verse 6 again here in Hebrews 11, James talks about anybody who would approach God with any doubt at all. That's ridiculous. I don't think you're going to receive anything if you don't have absolute rock-solid faith. If we diligently seek God, faith is required in order to do that. Trust, confidence, and faith are related to a covenant that we have made with God. For those of you who have not been baptized yet will make with God. This covenant, this contract, spells out the terms that God sets and the actions that you will be involved in in order to receive the reward. Essentially, the new covenant is spelled out there in verse 6. He rewards those who diligently seek Him. The trust in God, the trust in His Word, the confidence, the faith, all of these things are inexorably entwined into this covenant we've made with God to change our nature, to convert to God's nature. Why would I want to get rid of my selfish human nature and put it into a different form that I'm not sure that God exists, or I'm not sure that it's right, I'm not sure it's going to work? But just to cover my options here, I think I'll try it. Try a little Christianity and keep my other options open as well. That's not faith. That is not faith.

What about the individual who is serious? The one who is really devoted? The one absolutely gung-ho, no looking back, nothing can shake their religion. Well, faith is why. Look in verse 1, Hebrews 11. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. I know that's kind of a crazy phrase, isn't it? Let's look here at a couple of words. Hebrews 11.1, faith is the substance. It's the realization, the margin says. It's the realization. Or it's the, you know, I have a meteorite sitting on my desk at home. It's there. And that meteorite is about this big and it's heavy, it's made of nickel, it's kind of black, lumpy and bumpy. It sits there on my desk. How many of you believe that? A few hands went up. All right.

Now, for those of you who put your hands up, how many need me to go get that meteorite and show it to you? Probably the same hands that go up. So there's not much faith in that statement. Jesus Christ said, I am going to return. And when I return, I'm going to stand on the Mount of Olives and the Mount of Olives to stand in, too. How many of you need to see Jesus Christ stand on the Mount of Olives and the Mount of Olives cleave in, too, to believe that statement? Anybody? Would it help anything if you went to Jerusalem at the time Jesus Christ returned and saw His feet come down on the mountain cleave in, too? Would that help your trust and confidence in Him? Wouldn't help mine. Probably wouldn't help yours either. If it was happening tomorrow, I probably wouldn't go over there to see it happen just so that I could say, wow, it really did happen. Wow, take a look at that. I don't need that. I already have that because He said it. And so the substance of that, in my mind, it's already happened. It's a done deal. In other words, it hasn't happened chronologically. But it's a done deal. It's happened in the future. It's done. That's what's going to happen. And so how do you and I have that concept? It's faith. And to us, that's substance. Now, we trust Jesus Christ in His statement. You might not trust me about my meteorite. I might think, I'm not sure He's got a meteorite. Maybe He's got some slag off a dump that somebody threw out of the window. Maybe He doesn't know what a meteorite looks like. Maybe it's an old Coke can or something that got burned up in a fire and somebody threw it on the side of the road. So you may want the substance and not have the faith. And that's fine. That's fine. My wife doesn't have faith that there's a meteorite on my desk because she's seen it. See? So that erased the faith. I told her about it, then I showed it to her. It's like, oh yeah, you really do have one. Okay. But here we see it's the evidence of things not seen. To us it is the same as. The margin here talks about evidence as being the confidence. But to us it's the evidence of something that's not seen. And yet, what is that? Faith. It's not even a photograph. It's just a trust. It's a belief. It's a confidence. It's somehow we have inside of us. And to us that's good enough. It's not just good enough. It's the same as. We don't need the other if we have one. We can either have the proof or we can have the faith. They're the same. And that's the unique thing that God has developed within us.

Verse 3. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God. How many of you here have devoted your life to figuring out how the worlds were framed? Was it the Big Bang Theory?

What caused the explosion? What's the great rate? How did it all take? Anybody here in that particular science? How many of you here believe that the worlds were framed and know how they were framed? Anybody? A couple of us do. They were framed by the Word of God. Done. Done deal. We know more than scientists who have devoted their lives to trying to figure out how the worlds were framed. Because God told us that He did it by the word of His mouth. So that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

We don't look for the source of the Big Bang as being the source of the universe. We look for something invisible as being the source of the things that are made. And so this thing about faith, it shows why and how God is leading people to be prepared to rule and reign with Jesus Christ. They have accepted His Word. They trust Him. Even though they've never seen Him. They are devoted. They're dedicated. They sense and see proof in the Word of God and the power of God's way of life, in the righteousness of those things, the way the prophecies are unveiling, and it all makes sense.

And therefore, the faith is strong. The faith is strong. Others are unsure, uncommitted, maybe untrusting, and the reason why is faith is lacking. Let's go back to James 1 and 2. My brethren encountered all joy when you fall into various trials. Sometimes the trials of the Bible, I would say most often, but perhaps not always, are persecution-related. They are a trial that we get into because of what we believe, and that trial is a testing. And we're told to count it all joy when we fall into various testings, knowing that the testing of your faith produces, not patience, but perseverance. If you look in your margin, you'll find that the testing of faith, and how is that done?

Why? By your motor conking out on your car? That's what we call a trial, typically in America. The TV, the cable goes dead before the end of the ballgame. That's a trial. But here we're talking about a trial that tests your faith and produces perseverance. There's something about this faith that God has created in us.

He wants to see it go long, endure, work around any issue, and keep on going. He wants to see the genuineness of our faith. But let patience, or actually perseverance, have its perfect work. Hang in there and stick with it and go through whatever the trial of your faith is. Keep going. That you may be perfect, spiritually mature, the margin says, and complete, lacking nothing. So this is a good thing.

Having faith, then having it tempered, tested over time with persistent, persevering endurance, that you may be mature and lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without approach, and it will be given to him. God gives spiritual gifts to his spiritual children. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting. For he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose he will receive anything from the Lord. Here we see this principle that God has made for the first fruits.

Without faith, it's impossible to please me. He established that. And then he set it up in a way that requires that. He has set up creation in a way that people can't figure it out. Even the creationists have to reinvent science to try to get back and create in their own mind some way in order to have God have created the world in seven days, you know, six thousand years ago.

And there's all kinds of creationists. There's the young earth creationists who say it all took place six thousand years ago. And therefore, they go back to the magical flood period and then take 13 billion years of God's physical laws, including light coming into the Hubble telescope from 13 billion light years away. And then reinvent the speed of light and throw in a whole bunch of crazy things that puts the dinosaurs in the flood, that puts everything that ever took place in the last six thousand years.

And at the end of the day they say, now I can believe in God. I can believe in the Bible because I have some sort of proof in my head that it can be done. Well, then you have the old earth creationists. That's another group of creationists. And they say, no, that's stupid. You know, because God is a lawgiver.

And by changing all of his laws, you sort of erase the fact that one of his proofs of existence is a lawgiver. So we have to believe in the speed of light. We have to believe in the age of things. We have to believe in potassium argon dating. We have to believe in the decay rate of the uranium or actually the isotopes that come from the sun and bind with carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and come down and are ingested by all living things.

Right? And these things have a certain... the radio isotopes and those have a certain decay rate. Total of about 90,000 years with a half-life of about 40,000 years. So anything living in just these breathes or plants absorb carbon dioxide with a little hang-on from the solar winds of an isotope that is fresh. And it's radioactive content and it decays over time. All you have to do is use the laws that God made and go find anything that's been dead a while. An old tree, an old person, an old piece of leather, anything that ever breathed or lived. And figure out how much radiation remains in this piece, in the little carbon inside it.

And then chart it on a table with the decay rate of that radiation on your 90,000-year decay rate. And you can figure out about how old it is. It's called carbon-14 dating. It's wonderful. It works well. It's very accurate.

And you can cross it. You can cross it with tree ring analysis. You can cross it with VARVE analysis, which is the ancient glacial lake beds. The annual lake bed rings that are laid down with the freezing, the glacial till that goes in, the leaves that are washed in, then the freezing. And it repeats every year. Or you can go do core drilling in the great glaciers around the world and on the ice caps. And every year, you know, I have spring, summer, a little bit of thaw and melting. And then you have winter with another layer of snow and ice. And so a core drill, you can go back 100,000 years in time. Just like tree rings. They do this. They lay out the core, count your years back. You want to go back to the year 14,000 B.C.? Fine. Go back 14,000. Melt the snow in a tube. And you've got the air from that particular year. You can find out what was in the air, how much carbon, nitrogen, oxygen. Carbon dioxide. You can tell what kind of weather there was, how much snow there was. I mean, there's so many fascinating things that are based on the laws of God.

So the old earth creationists are another group. But, you know, they don't believe everything just right either. They believe sometimes that God used evolution to create everything. Because sure enough, you know, simpler life forms are down lower in the strata. So they kind of throw in a creationism using evolution. Well, then there's another mindset, and that is spontaneous creationists. OK? Spontaneous creationists. And that is God created life whenever he wanted to, wherever he wanted to, at any time he wanted to. Because you see, when you go to the layer where there are ancient fish, there's nothing before them that they came from. There's just fish. You know, you come to the era where there are dinosaurs. You go back to the Jurassic and the Jurassic period. Dinosaurs don't come from anything. There are hundreds and hundreds of different species of dinosaurs. They're digging up new dinosaurs all the time, just up on the northern borders of Arizona. Species they've ever seen before. Dinosaurs didn't evolve from anything. There was nothing before dinosaurs in the layer. And guess what? At the K2 boundary, there's pretty much the end of the dinosaurs. And right after that, there's other kinds of life. And mammals didn't evolve from anything. There's just mammals. They just appear. So then you have the spontaneous creationists who look at the strata and say, you know what? I think God can create whatever he wants, whenever he wants it. And we don't have a problem with that. So you have all these ideas that float around because people don't understand and they want to try to prove and they can't believe unless they have some kind of proof. So people who often study science are those who have whatever faith they had eroded right out from under them, as far as some of the geological sciences and looking back into the development of life and various orgasms. I was told when I started my program in the University of South Dakota, the dean of the department brought me and he said, so you're a church pastor? What you're about to embark in is going to test everything you know. And you're liable to come out the other side of this program, a little different person.

Here, James lets us know that we need to ask in faith, in verse 7, God does not want double-minded, unstable people. I believe in God and I'm a good Christian, but I'm not really sure he exists. I need to overcome my human nature. There really is a God. I think I want his nature. You can't do that. God, if you're there, give me wisdom.

Solomon was the wisest man in the Bible. Go find anywhere on the earth, in any record, other than this book, that Solomon ever even existed. Why do we ask for wisdom if we're not sure that God has it or that God gave it? There's a lot of things that you and I need to get nailed down in our own mind. Let's go to Romans 10, verse 2.

When we nail these down in our mind, it won't be because of proof. Quit looking for proof. We don't need proof because the proof, as we just read in Hebrews, is faith. What we need is faith. Remember the individual that said to Jesus, Jesus said, Do you believe? And the man said, Yeah, I believe, but help my unbelief. What he didn't offer him was, Do you believe? Would you like some proof? No? That's not what God is needing right now. All this proof is coming in a very short time. Romans 10, verse 2 says, For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. So faithless people who have a religion that is not based on faith end up with a zeal that's not according to God's knowledge, His Bible. They are establishing somehow their own parameters for getting into the afterlife. But they have not submitted to the righteousness of God.

For Christ, it says, is the end of the law. What it means by the end of the law, it doesn't mean Christ came and ended the law. He lived it perfectly, therefore He ended it. No. Christ is the end of... He's the ultimate point that we reach for in the law. He is our goal. We are to grow up into the fullness of Christ. He is the epitome of all that the law is. He is the point that we aim for. If we were to fire an arrow or fire ourself into what we want to be, Jesus Christ would be the perfect destination. So He is the destination. He is the perfection. He is that target, that point that we are all trying to reach with the law. And righteousness to everyone, notice who believes. He is not righteousness to those who have proof. He is righteousness to those who believe. There are always those who are trying to convince people that He didn't exist. You've heard recently that James Cameron and another producer have found the tomb of Jesus and his wife Mary Magdalene and their son Matthew, of all people. There are other people that shouldn't be in there and a whole bunch of people that shouldn't have been in there. They have DNA proof that this is Jesus' tomb. This is actually an old claim that was done back in the 80s and had no accuracy to it then. Also, it's about the tenth tomb of Jesus and Mary that had been found, because Jesus and Mary were some of the most common names back in the time, along with Joseph and Judas and some other names like that. You can find those graves all over the place. That doesn't really mean anything, but people like to throw that up in the air and sort of misclaim. Of course, if you found a tomb and it did say Jesus and Mary, and not sure if Joseph was in that one, but Matthew or somebody else, right? What were the relationships of those people? Was Matthew the husband of Mary?

And was Jesus the uncle? He doesn't say. He found a box and it had some little things inside and some names on him. Well, who's related to who? Who knows? Mary could have been the daughter of that person named Jesus, and maybe it was his brother Matthew in there. Since they're the most common names, you see, we're not talking about the Jesus. Obviously, he wasn't in there. And if it were the tomb of Jesus, why would the disciples have all become apostles and given their lives through martyrdom? When they said, Jesus rose to heaven fully well, knowing that he's right over there in the box, you know, with Matthew and Mary Magdalene. Why would they have done that? It would have been kind of silly, wouldn't it? Be poor all your life and go around and be hurt and beat up and thrown into prison and hated by everybody and then killed. That would be pretty rough. Imagine all that Paul went through and finally gave his life, knowing fully well that Jesus is just a man and never went to heaven. It's absurd, isn't it? It's just kind of absurd. But people nevertheless will throw things out. And I think it's of Satan to keep the questions running and keep, you know, these other concepts going. In Mark 9, verse 23, Jesus said, It all things are possible to him who believes. All things are possible to him who believes. It's a very strong statement, and it outlines the problem with modern religions. They're faithless religions. They're faithless religions that rely on proof, on icons, on miracles. A saint or a god must have been somebody who reportedly was known to have done some magic or, you know, some miracle or something. There's a problem with trusting. There's a problem with believing, because they don't believe what Jesus said. They may have believed he existed, but they don't believe what he said, and they don't follow him. Instead, they seek proof. They seek signs. Mary sightings. That's a big one. Just see that sandwich that got sold on eBay? I think it's like $25,000. Somebody, you know, looked back at this old fried cheese sandwich, and... That's amazing. People, you know, it's kind of chuckling, but people race, I guess, in large numbers to places where you look up on a window and something happens, and it kind of almost looks like a woman's face. Well, guess what? That wasn't Jezebel's. How do you know it's not Jezebel's face up there? But anyway, it's always got to be Mary's face, because they need so badly to have some proof that there is something to this religion. There's a problem with trusting and believing. You know, you have Jesus shrouds, you have tombs, you have science, you have literature, you have archaeology, you have DNA. You have all of these things either trying to work for or against religion. That's why signs, by the way, I think, are going to be so pervasive in the end time. People won't have faith. They don't have faith. So show them a sign, and you can convince them of anything. Now you have proof. You know, I am somebody. Poof! Oh, wow, you are, because you have proof. Now you've impressed me, you've shown me, you've demonstrated, you see, that you are true. I can't believe this, but I can believe that sign. You see, I can believe that miracle. I can believe noises or fire from heaven or whatever it is. Jesus said in Matthew 24, 24, For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, So much that if it were possible, they would deceive even the elect.

They would deceive, if possible, even the elect. The firstfruits don't need physical proof. Faith is the evidence. Faith is the substance for them. And these other things that work against what they believe in are obvious frauds. They're lying wonders. They're false teachers and false workers of miracles.

We really don't need physical proof. I don't need God to leave a footprint for me. I don't need Him to call up on the phone. Neither do you. You are here. You are in this church because you believe. And that belief is precious. It is so much more precious than if everybody knew God and everybody had found the ark on Mount Ararat and everybody had found the ark of the covenant.

Then nobody would need faith. How can we obtain strong living faith that will endure to the end? Well, we have to realize something. Maybe at times you find in your own life that your faith isn't as deep and strong as you would like it to be. I do.

Well, at a time if you come to realize that your faith is not as deep and as strong as you would like it to be, how can you obtain more faith? How do you do that? Sit in a room and start thinking and imagining. What do you do? Do you go out and hunt like an archaeologist and try to find proof to improve your faith? Let's go to Hebrews 12. Read the first couple verses. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, and what he's talking about here is all the faithful people in the previous chapter who have been faithful down through time, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses and those who are in heaven today, the angels and God, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Notice the endurance. Faith that endures to the end.

Going on. Just trying to find... Here we go. Verse 2, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. The author and finisher of our faith. He's the one who began it. You notice the margin for author. It is the originator. He's the one who originated the faith that is in you. We got it from him. We got faith from Jesus. And going on, he is the perfecter of it, or the finisher and perfecter of our faith. Wow! So we get faith from Jesus Christ. If we want deeper, stronger faith, we need to ask for it. He, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of God on his throne. So we can be very appreciative of that. He said in John 17, 17, Thy word is truth. So here is truth. We have Jesus, who is the originator and the finisher of our faith. We have the word of truth. Now let's go to Philippians 3, verses 8 through 11. Philippians 3, verse 8. Yet indeed I also count all things lost for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord. Nothing is more important than the knowledge of Jesus Christ, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ. Here is a person with a lot of faith and confidence. Notice this. Notice this. And be found in him not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith. The modern King James Version stated this way. But that which is through the faith of Christ. Not the faith in Christ, which we would have, but through the faith of Christ. It's Christ's faith. We start out with believing in God and it can be our faith. But at some point, and especially at baptism, we receive God's Holy Spirit and we receive the faith of Jesus Christ. He is the author of that finished. He is the originator of that faith. He is the perfecter of it in us. It's the faith of Christ. The righteousness which is from God by faith.

Faithfulness also is the result of having the Holy Spirit. You know, in Galatians 5, verse 22, love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness. It's faithfulness. Being faithful and faithful. That comes as a byproduct of having the Holy Spirit. Now let's remember Jesus said, when the Son of Man comes, will he really find faith on the earth? Well, that's a good question. That's a good question. The answer is yes, in the first fruits. There's no doubt about that. I don't think he was beating up on the church or anything when he asked that question. But he's not asking, will I find faith in the church? He said, will the Son of Man really find faith in the earth? It'll be in the first fruits. That's already shown by him in the book of Revelation through his own revelation to John. That there will be very faithful people. But what about in society? You know, at the end of the tribulation, towards that time, those who are the faithless believers and are believing these signs and wonders, these proofs, you know, of their new religious leader, they're going to be let down. Revelation 17, verse 18, says, The woman you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth. That's that Romanized religion, that woman who, that church that reigns from the city over the kings of the earth. Going on into chapter 18, I saw an angel coming down from heaven having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, Babylon, the great has fallen, has fallen. This religious concept and this false religious leader and all that goes with it has fallen, has become the dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit and a cage for every unclean and hated bird. For the nations have drunk with the rind of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury. We see here that people will be caught up in this particular way. Verse 8 says, Therefore her plagues will come in one day. All of a sudden, boom! This religious system, this city, this great city, will collapse in one day. Death and mourning and famine, and she will be utterly burned with fire. What does that sound like?

It almost sounds like the lying wonders that this religious system has used in order to promulgate itself to the overseer ship of the beast of the ten-nation. Power is found out. And somebody gets fed up with it, and somebody erases it. Somebody does. It doesn't say who. It could be an outsider. It could be a different religion. Who knows what it is? But suddenly, boom! Utterly burned with fire. And what happens? Notice verse 9.

We drop down a little further to verse 17.

Nothing. Every shipmaster, all who traveled by ship, sailors, and as many who trade on the sea, stood at a distance. There are certain cities that are located on the coast, and I'm not sure if that's what's being referred to here. But they cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What is like this great city? And they threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, Alas! Alas! That great city in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth, for in one hour she is made desolate. Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her. There's nothing left to believe in. We see up in verse 4 of chapter 18 that the law of God still stands. I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins. The law defines what sin is. And you receive of her plagues, for her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Yes, the law of God stands until that point, and that system is judged by it. We see the context here over in Luke chapter 18 and verse 7. The context of the time chronologically, I believe, in Luke chapter 18 and verse 7. And God shall not avenge his own elect who cry out day and night to him, though he bears long with them. We just read that he is going to avenge them. And here he's talking about avenging them. And at that time, I tell you, he will avenge them speedily. Verse 8, Luke 18. Read on. Within this context, nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, which he was just about to do there in Revelation 19, right after Babylon fell, when the Son of Man comes, will he really find faith on the earth? Will there be anybody left who is not one of the firstfruits, one of the saints? Will there be anybody left who has any trust for religion, Christianized religion whatsoever, when all that they were shown to have faith and trust in as a final, you know, religious entity is dissolved and burnt and is in his smoke? What will there be? There will only be faithful people and faithless people at that time, it looks like. In conclusion, let's read Romans chapter 1, verses 16 and 17. Romans chapter 1 and verse 16. You and I are faithful. We have faithfulness in us through God's Spirit. We have the faith of Jesus Christ in us because he put it there, and he is developing it within us. We are those who are the people of God, and it's because of this faith that we have that we are able to accept the life and the death and the blood of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ and God the Father, and also the promises of the kingdom of God, which Christ will bring to the firstfruits at his return. It's through faith that we can do and participate in these things. Paul says here in Romans 1, verse 16, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes. That's a statement that's just rooted in faith and confidence. It is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it, in what? It refers back to verse 16, the gospel of Christ. For in the gospel of Christ, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.

From faith to faith. You know, we come to understand God by hearing, and hearing by a teacher. And the teacher uses the Word of God. This Word of God is something that you and I have to believe in. That this is truth and spend time in it and let Jesus Christ build faith in us through using this Word. In this gospel, this Word of God is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. The faith of God to the faith of the faithful. As it is written, the just shall live by faith. We shall live this life by faith, but live in the eternal sense. The eternal sense that just will live. In other words, we will be given eternal life because of faith. And that faith is the faith in God. It's the faith of God. It's the faith that propels us to becoming godly. It's the identity that we... No, it's the thing that compels us that we have an identity with God and propels us into overcoming.

You have faith. And that is the thing that propels you to be godly and be confident in God.

It shows you the way. It provides you with your goal, your ultimate goal in life. So ask the author of it and the completer of it to give you more of it. If we believe, we shall stand. And if we have faith, we will receive. And we do have faith. Let's grow in faith. And in doing so, we will please God in every way. And we will be part of the family of God at the return of Jesus Christ.