CHAPTER SIX

We must also understand the role that HONESTY plays in our faith efforts. The Scripture uses the word "Honest" in some form, eleven times in the New Testament. Understanding the subject of honesty is critical to a victorious faith life. If our conscience accuses that our confession is dishonest, we will have difficulty in believing that we receive what we ask for.

For example, Jesus said that the Word of God produces fruit in an honest and good heart" (Luke 8:15). Romans 12:17 tells us to provide things honest in the sight of all men. Romans 13:18 speaks of being willing to live honestly. 1 Timothy 2:2 tells us to pray that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all honesty.

Believers are aware, as we should be, that we must be honest, and to refuse deceit and lying. However, as believers, we are compelled to deal with the two aspects of truth, previously discussed. i.e., the Redemptive Truth of God in Christ, and the facts of our experiences in the world, which we are calling the "Apparent Facts".

What I want to show is that sometimes APPARENT FACTS contradict what God has said in His written Word. This often causes difficulty for people. For instance, the Scripture in 1 Peter 2:24 tells us that by the stripes of Jesus we WERE healed. But in common experience, EVERY APPARENT FACT may indicate that we are VERY sick. Then when we would exercise our faith and SAY that we ARE healed--. At that critical point, our conscience may accost us about the issue of HONESTY.

QUESTION: Is it Honest to say that we ARE healed, when EVERY symptom easily "PROVES" that we are sick? Underdstanding that point is of crucial importance for us. If we hesitate in uncertainty or if we fail to resolve the point, DOUBT may overpower us, causing us to lose the battle of faith.

As we stand at the crossroads of this dilemma, the outcome of our well being depends on how we resolve the issue. How SHALL we resolve it? Can it be resolved? Most assuredly it can. Permit me to suggest two steps that should resolve the issue of honesty. It may require extensive practice, but it can be done.

Step One. Decide for yourself, "Is God's Word true? And are the 'Apparent Facts' true? WHICH ONE SHALL prevail over the other, as far as I am concerned?" You MUST decide! QUESTION: Is God honest? Now remember that it is God Who tells us that by the stripes of Jesus we ARE healed, and also that by them we WERE healed. (Isaiah 53:4-5 and 1 Peter 2:24). ANSWER: Of course, God's Word is TRUE, whether we or any one else agrees that it is or not!

Step Two. Consider Romans 4:17: "(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before Him Whom he believed, even God, Who calls those things which BE NOT AS THOUGH THEY WERE." THAT is how God "operates". Again, I ask, "Is God honest?" Notice also Ephesians 5:1: "Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children." Since our heavenly Father operates in this manner, and we are bidden to follow Him, ARE WE LESS THAN HONEST to proclaim by faith what our Heavenly Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ have said and done for us? Are we DISHONEST to believe and to confess what they declare to be a FACT? EMPHATICALLY, in such confessions of faith, we are NOT dishonest!

The confrontation between the "True Facts" and the "Apparent Facts" often appears. We face the distinction between the REDEMPTIVE TRUTH that is in Christ Jesus, and the "Apparent Facts" of this world. E.g., 2 Corinthians 5:17: "...the OLD things are passed away, behold, all things are become new". Yet many believers struggle against the "old" things.

Is it RIGHT and is it RIGHTEOUS for us to lay hold on the redemptive truth that is in Christ Jesus? Is it right and righteous to proclaim boldly, with a good, HONEST conscience, what God Who CANNOT LIE says in the Scripture? Unless our conscience is trained, guided, and sustained by the Scripture, it may be difficult to do so, but we MUST succeed! If not, we WILL face the consequences which the "Apparent Facts" will impose upon us. Note: "They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy" (Jonah 2:8). If we "observe lying vanities" of the "Apparent facts" over the "True Facts", we are forsaking our own mercy which our Heavenly father has provided for us.

We should make up our minds to believe stedfastly what God has said and done for us. We can, and we MUST choose to observe, believe and hold to, the REDEMPTIVE TRUTH which is in Christ Jesus, concerning ALL things.

Please allow me to emphasize that I am not implying or suggesting that we are to IGNORE "Apparent facts". We must not PRETEND that they aren't REAL. They usually are. But in spite of them, we must "lock on to" the "True facts" from God. We must REFUSE to let go of our confesion of faith. Hebrews 10:35: "Cast not away therefore your confidence (which is one aspect of faith), which has great recompense of reward."

God's intention and provision is for believers to reign in THIS life. Romans 5:17. (No NOT politically, yet.) Alas, this aspect of God's provision receives so little attention in the usual preaching of the Gospel of Christ. The BIG PICTURE of Gods intention and provision for His children is that we are heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. Note Romans 8:17 and Titus 3:4-8. In order to reign in life, we must receive the gift of righteousness and abundance of grace. Both are available to us according to 1 Cor. 1:30 and John 1:16.Praise God.

We can enter by faith, into what is available to us. Jesus said that whosoever will may come and drink freely of the living water. Let us be bold, and eager to do it.

I am persuaded that one of God's high objectives is for all believers to reign in life. But many do not seem to know that and consequently, they do not enter into God's higher purposes.

Let me now make a very bold statement. We are right and we are righteous to appropriate all that God has provided for us in Christ. UNDERSTAND: we are not here considering how to get saved, or how to become born again. We are delving into Philippians 2:13: "For it is God which works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure".

In the case of sickness or of symptoms, many stumble in their faith. They are UNABLE to make, with unwavering faith, a confession that they ARE healed, because of the "Apparent Facts" of their case. The same causes of failure can occur in seeking to reign over other things in life that affect us.

Let us begin to practice making bold confessions of faith, based upon God's promises. Let us hold to them firmly, without wavering. Let us determine that nothing shall prevent us from receiving what we are believing for. Let us stretch our faith to receive more of God's great promises.

In order for us to reign in life, we must learn to rule over "Apparent Facts", when they contradict God's Word, The True Facts. Also we shall have to settle the issues of HONESTY and fear, once and for all.

We shall also have to resist the cliches of religion which we have all heard. Holding fast to what God has said will help us do that. Remember, He meant what He said, and said what He meant. He intends for us to receive what He has provided for us. According to Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son: "Ask, and it shall be given you..." (Matthew 7:7).

Please notice Isaiah 54:14. "In righteousness (one of the ingredients needed to reign, according to Romans 5:17) shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt NOT FEAR: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee". This verse shows us one of the main roots of oppression.

Need I remind you that fear has been a concomitant of human experience ever since Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden? First, Adam felt guilt. And then FEAR! And fear permits oppression to attack us, according to Isaiah 54:14. No wonder that Jesus always assured people by telling them not to fear. Fear is the OPPOSITE of faith, and it can be the detriment of every intention of faith. Let us get the BIG PICTURE, and rise to reign in life. The gift of righteousness and the abundance of grace is available to us, praise God.

By living according to God's plan for us, we can LIVE FREE from such fear! When we do, we will be far from oppression. Thank God for His Word. What a source of comfort and hope it is for believers. Notice: "Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it comes. For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep your foot from being taken" (Proverbs 3:25-26).

"Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart to my knowledge. For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withall be fitted in thy lips. That thy trust may be in the Lord, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee. Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge, that I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth that thou might answer the words of truth to them that send unto you? (Proverbs 22:17-21).

We have a basis for absolute faith in God. That is because God CANNOT lie! What He says about any subject is the TRUTH. His statement abrogates every alternative that does not agree with the Divine statement. That basis is the basis for our assurance when we are dealing with conditions and influences in the world. "Let God be true, but every man a liar" (Romans 3:4). God IS true, even if men dissent.

We need to develop the attitude found in Psalms 119:128: "I esteem all your precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way". This disposition believes EVERYTHING that God says about any subject. It rejects as FALSE all contradictions.

It is this unhindered readiness to believe that I refer to as "The Disposition of Faith". On the contrary, note the Apostle Thomas' disposition to the "Apparent Facts" of Jesus' death. He said: "I WILL NOT believe...". Such a disposition is common to humanity. But Jesus reproved this attitude in Thomas and in all the Apostles (Mark 16:14).

The very atmosphere of this world is one of enmity to the truth of God. It is an atmosphere of doubt and of darkness. The Scripture states that men walk in darkness, and that they do not know at what they stumble. It says that they are sensual and that they are children of darkness. e.g., education is purported to be the great panacea for all human ills. But education to the world's way of thinking without Divine truth is a deadly snare and deep darkness. It is doomed to fail as a means of accomplishing peace of heart or of social tranquility.

People of the world work with information begotten from a fallen, imperfect creation. Therefore, their conclusions are often incorrect in comparison to the truth that God has taught humanity. It is true that education has given us much. Education has also taken much from many, because it has trained many in enmity and unbelief towards God.

In one common human activity, we can see how believers, unknowingly, can be affected by the world's darkness. For example, consider 1 Timothy 4:3-6: "Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats (foods), which God has created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer. If you put the brethren in remembrance of these things, you shall be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto you have attained." Because of unbelief, the world is in darkness about those facts.

God took forethought for mankind's need for food. (Indeed He took forethought for the need of every living thing on earth.) "And God said, (to Adam) Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed: to you it shall be for meat (food)" (Genesis 1:29).

Later, God said to Israel: "And you shall serve the Lord your God, and He shall bless your food and your water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of you" (Exodus 23:25). Again, God said if Israel would obey His laws, that he could keep them alive. Therefore, we are to understand that God never intended for food to harm people or for it to make us sick. He has showed mankind how to avoid harm and sickness from food. Eating is God's idea, and it is His provision. He made us able to taste distinctions in food for our benefit and pleasure! He could have made us without ability to enjoy taste, but He didn't. He DOES expect us to be wise in our eating habits, and to avoid gluttony. Its true that we must overcome the SIN that seeks to capture our appetites. We must be continent in all our habits. But may I say emphatically, as I said before, that eating is God's idea and provision.

Through study, and by experimentation, people have learned much valuable information about the world's food stuffs and about human anatomy. Also, they have learned much about nutrition. But it is extremely important for our purposes, that we realize that their MODELS and METHODS of observation and testing, are just as much FALLEN as is all of the other creation around us.

There is another realm, a higher order, which is available to believers in Christ through faith. The New Testament and church history shows that BELIEVERS CAN receive the benefits of that realm. That realm supersedes the natural, fallen creation. In Matthew 6:9-10, Jesus taught us to pray that God's kingdom come. The ultimate end of that prayer is the political kingdom of God on earth. But from the parables of Jesus, we should see that there are aspects of it that are available to believers right now.

Again, it requires that we possess viable faith in the REDEMPTIVE TRUTH of God that is in Christ Jesus. "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him, If you continue in My word, then are you My disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth and that truth shall make you free" (John 8:30-32).

As an example, have you ever wondered why Jesus said in Mark 16:18: "... if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them..."? In that single statement, Jesus provided for DOMINION by BELIEVERS. That is within the purpose of God for us. Romans 5:17.

"That being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:7)." God's intention in saving us is that we should be made heirs. Joint heirs with Jesus. Surely, we must renew our minds by God's Word, in order to accept these things. Also, they are not commonly taught in churches. But Jesus said the Word of God CANNOT be broken, and that His Words shall never pass away: as noted, there they are!

Let me ask you: "Why do you say "grace" at mealtimes, and then react as if what nutritionists say is the final authority about it?" Just whose word prevails as far as you are concerned? Jesus BLESSED food. And He said: "For verily I say unto you that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he says shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he says" (Mark 11:23). Therefore, a BELIEVER can bless his food. Remember 1 Timothy 4:4-5:"For EVERY creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer."

According to the above Scripture, it is extremely important that we believe and know the TRUTH of God. The "Apparent Facts" of this world constantly seek to force themselves and their conditions upon us. Though we are subject to natural, worldly influences and conditions, Jesus is not offended when we boldly activate His power to overcome them through faith. He intends for us to defeat them. He has provided for us, so that through faith we may have a means of overcoming more of them than we have realized. Through faith we can subject them to the victory that Jesus Christ won for us at Calvary.

Romans 5:12 tells us that sin came into the world by one man, and death by sin. One of the consequences that came with sin and death, is the loss of well being. It is a constant threat to everyone in the world. But thank God, Jesus has redeemed BELIEVERS, and we need not be helpless in dealing with it.

Being victors over loss of well being depends on whether or not we know and believe the truth of God. We know that the "Apparent Facts" will run their course, unless we get a miracle from God or otherwise overcome them by faith. That common knowledge causes some people to take a fatalistic attitude about life. But the REDEMPTIVE TRUTH in Christ provides victory for believers, not fatalism. Shall we not in faith, enjoy what our Heavenly Father has provided? Why are His promises written if they are not for us?

There is only one way to supersede the conditions of the "Apparent Facts" in this world. That is by the superior REDEMPTIVE TRUTH that is in Christ Jesus, successfully activated by faith.

The text in 1 Timothy 4:3 treats of believing and knowing the Truth of God. That is the truth that makes people free. John 8:32. Through the Word of God, believers can be FREE from what the unbelievers must "put up with". Yet living free includes fighting the good fight of faith in order to stay free (1 Timothy 6:12) because satan, our arch enemy, tries to recapture us.

Ephesians 4:23, tells us to be renewed in the spirit of our mind. Believers, whose minds are renewed with Mark 16:18, can even overcome deadly things. Jesus said: "...if they DRINK ANY DEADLY THING it shall not hurt them". But under the conditions of the "Apparent Facts" of this world, many have died when they drank something deadly. Understand: the "Apparent Facts" of this world REIGN unless through faith we break their dominion. Mankind CANNOT break their dominion by mere personal whim. But the TRUTH of God as noted above, provides a way by which BELIEVERS can break the dominion of many things. The reason that there are exceptions is, for instance, death's dominion. Its dominion cannot be broken, except temporarily, until Jesus comes again (Hebrews 9:27).

In all cases, we must understand that Biblical faith is NOT to be used to TEMPT God with. Be warned! This is NOT an area for unbelievers (or for those with unproved faith) to EXPERIMENT in. Just because one has been saved does not mean necessarily that our faith is developed enough to apply this aspect of Mark 16:18. It will not work just because someone decides that they want to "try it". Faith is not a toy to defy natural order, and it is not to be attempted for personal whim. Rather, it appears to mean for victory, if for instance, one is forced to drink poison or if one does so accidentally.

On the other hand, nutritionists speak of certain types of foods as being "junk food". Their explanation is generally that "junk food" is food with little "food value" and possessing large amounts of "empty calories". Some kinds of food (or the ingredients in them) cause undesireable results. By means of their knowledge, technical abilities and observations, nutritionists can prove that they are correct. But they are operating from the natural, apparent facts as we have discussed them. The REDEMPTIVE TRUTH in Christ Stands! Note Mark 16:18; 1 Timothy 4:3-6, Exodus 23:25 and Proverbs 4:20-25, as noted above.

God's Word stands above criticism by humans and their imperfect knowledge. If we renew our minds with the superior truth of God, we need not be victimized by conditions that unbelievers MUST endure. Is that good doctrine? The Word of God says that it is! Note 1 Timothy 4:6, quoted above. Therefore, when you say "grace" over your food, you ought to EXERT your faith to prevail over apparent conditons of this natural, fallen world.

Again, I definitely am NOT suggesting foolhardiness or presumption. Presumption would be to assume that you can "do it" with no word from God to "cover it". But God's Word DOES provide for the blessing of our daily food. Faith gives rise to action because God's Word provides for it. Another thing to be understood is that we will have to PRACTICE using our faith until it becomes unwavering. Only unwavering faith can obtain the complete benefits of divine victory over "Apparent Facts". This is the case whether we are talking about food or about other areas of concern. "But strong meat belongs to them that are of full age, even to those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil" (Hebrews 5:14). As we have said before, it is very worthwhile to develop our faith BEFORE we get into a "faith fight" about something that may be more vital.