Where is Your Faith?
January, 2010
By: John Fyfe
Luke
8: 22 ¶ Now it
came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and
he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they
launched forth.
23 But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm
of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy.
24 And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master,
master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the
water: and they ceased, and there was a calm.
25 And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they
being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What
manner of man is this! for he commandeth
even the winds and water, and they obey him.Matthew
6: 31 Therefore take no thought, saying,
What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for
your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all
these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his
righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Our
first priority should always be the kingdom of God. The current global economic
crisis is not only a sign of the end of time, but also shows where many people
are putting their faith. That misplaced faith is in the temporal riches of this
world. There have been several cities through time that served as centers of
ungodly worship and worldly finance: Babylon, Nineveh, and Rome among others.
Ezekiel
27: 1 ¶ The
word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
2 Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus;
3 And say unto Tyrus,
O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art
a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith
the Lord GOD; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of
perfect beauty.
4 Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders
have perfected thy beauty.
Tyrus was
the biblical name for Tyre, a major Phoenician
seaport. It was a beautiful city and its merchants were involved with every nation
in the region. But Tyre
was ungodly.
Ezekiel
27: 29 And
all that handle the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of the sea, shall
come down from their ships, they shall stand upon the land;
30 And shall cause their voice to be heard against thee, and
shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon their heads, they shall wallow
themselves in the ashes:
31 And they shall make themselves utterly bald for thee, and
gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for thee with bitterness of heart
and bitter wailing.
32 And in their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for
thee, and lament over thee, saying, What city is like
Tyrus, like the destroyed in the midst of the sea?
33 When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many people; thou didst enrich the kings of the
earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise.
34 In the time when thou shalt be
broken by the seas in the depths of the waters thy merchandise and all thy
company in the midst of thee shall fall.
35 All the inhabitants of the isles shall be astonished at
thee, and their kings shall be sore afraid, they shall be troubled in their
countenance.
Tyre was
utterly destroyed. Verse 35 says ”they shall be
troubled in their countenance.” Why were the people troubled? Because their worldly treasures were gone. A similar situation
is prophesied of at the end time.
Revelations
18: 1 ¶ And after these things I saw another
angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened
with his glory.
2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying,
Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils,
and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful
bird.
3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the
wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication
with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance
of her delicacies.
4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out
of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive
not of her plagues.
5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath
remembered her iniquities.
Just
like Tyre, Sodom and others have been judged by God
in the past. The entire earth will be judged by God at the end of time.
Revelations
18: 9 ¶ And the kings of the earth, who have
committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and
lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas,
alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for
in one hour is thy judgment come.
11 And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over
her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
12 The merchandise of gold, and silver, and
precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and
scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels
of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron,
and marble,
13 And cinnamon, and odours, and
ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and
beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.
14 And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed
from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee,
and thou shalt find them no more at all.
15 The merchants of these things, which were made rich by
her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,
16 And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed
in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious
stones, and pearls!
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships,
and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
18 And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying,
What city is like unto this great city!
Precious
metals, wood, ivory, spices, animals, everything of worldly value is listed.
How do the people react to their loss of wealth? Do they seek comfort in God?
No, they wail and moan over their system of earthly riches being destroyed. The
current economic crisis has had a similar reaction. In America and Europe,
people have cried out against financial institutions and governments. In the
Middle East, people expressed shock when they found out that Dubai (the global
city of this century) could collapse at any moment like a house of cards. We
know these things are signs of the end times. It is how we react that
determines our eternal fate.
Acts
14: 21 And when
they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned
again to Lystra, and to Iconium,
and Antioch,
22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to
continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the
kingdom of God.
We
must continue in faith like Abraham.
Romans
4: 16
Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the
promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law,
but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
17
¶ (As it is
written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he
believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
Abraham
believed in one God and obeyed Him.
Hebrews
11: 8 By faith
Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after
receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he
went.
9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a
strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with
him of the same promise:
10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose
builder and maker is God.
If
we believe and are faithful like Abraham, we will be rewarded on judgment day
by God.
Galatians
3: 6 ¶ Even as Abraham believed God, and it
was accounted to him for righteousness.
7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same
are the children of Abraham.
8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the
heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee
shall all nations be blessed.
9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful
Abraham.
The
road to eternal life lies not in earthly treasures but in the belief of the One
True Living God, who created and sustains everything and in return asks us to
humble ourselves and be faithful to Him.
Ephesians
4: 4 There is
one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through
all, and in you all.
Where
is your faith?