Preaching the good news and healing the sick
in New Zealand, Nepal and the world
2011 - Our Protection is by faith
Faith
All that we receive from God is by faith in his grace:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1:3-5
We are saved by faith. We are healed by faith. We are set free by faith. We receive the gifts of the Spirit and the baptism of the Holy Spirit by faith.
He is our provider, but we receive our blessings by faith.
What does this mean in practice?
Faith trusts that God will keep his word – that he will do exactly as he has promised in the Bible. Now the promises of the Old Testament are conditional upon ‘keeping God’s covenant’, a phrase that appears over 20 times in the OT, but nowhere in the New! The promises of the New Testament are conditional upon our faith. Thus all the promises of God are ‘Yes’ by faith in Christ:
For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. 2 Corinthians 1:20
This tells us that the promises are guaranteed [ i.e. are ‘Yes’] because of Christ, that is, because his death has paid for them, but that we also need to say, ‘Amen’ in order for God to have the glory. The glory comes only when the promises are fulfilled, not when they are made.
God says often that he will gain glory for himself when certain miracles take place. He makes the promise, but receives the glory when they happen.
Therefore when we agree with the promises (saying, ‘Amen’) they WILL be fulfilled.
Here is the process of faith therefore:
Step 1. God makes a promise
Step 2. They are paid for by Jesus
Step 3. We agree with them
Step 4. They are fulfilled
Unfortunately many of us are missing out step 3. We are expecting God to do it all, but he wants us involved in the process. Otherwise everyone would be saved, healed and delivered automatically, and we become God’s puppets, not his children.
So faith is the buy-in to his promises. Now hope prays for rain, but faith carries the umbrella. If we have faith, we have a full assurance of his promise, and behave accordingly.
Protection
Many times in Scripture, God promises to protect us:
There is no sorcery against Jacob, no divination against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and of Israel, 'See what God has done!' Numbers 23:23
Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest. Proverbs 26:2
"Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm." 1 Chronicles 16:22
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills-- where does my help come from? 2 My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot slip-- he who watches over you will not slumber; 4 indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The LORD watches over you-- the LORD is your shade at your right hand; 6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD will keep you from all harm-- he will watch over your life; 8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. Psalms 121:1-8
But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. 2 Thessalonians 3:3
And of course the great Psalm 91:
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." 3 Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. 4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. 5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, 6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. 7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. 8 You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. 9 If you make the Most High your dwelling-- even the LORD, who is my refuge-- 10 then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. 11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; 12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. 13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. 14 "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. 15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honour him. 16 With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation." Psalms 91:1-16
Notice that the promises in this are conditional to a) He who dwells (‘sits’, ‘settles’, ‘marries’ [Strong’s], from which we get ‘endures’, ‘rests’, ‘delays’) in the shelter of the Most High, (repeated in verse 9) and b) to those who love him (see verse 14), and c) to those who acknowledge his Name (verse 14).
Notice also that it says ‘He will call upon me and I will answer him.’ This is a Messianic prophecy, because Jesus prayed in John 17:11 & 15 for the protection of his disciples.
Just as we must buy into God’s provision for our salvation, so we must for our protection, as Caleb realised:
Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them." Numbers 14:9
And so did Jonathan:
Jonathan said to his young armour-bearer, "Come, let's go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised fellows. Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few." 1 Samuel 14:6
They were confident that the Lord would rescue them, but then had to act out their faith.
In the last couple of trips to Nepal some of our team (including myself) have suffered a succession of accidents, loss, sickness or strange events that had the fingerprints of the devil on them. First of all I rejoice for two reasons, a) because he is unhappy, and that is part of our life’s work, to make the devil unhappy. But also b) because he must pay restitution, four-, or seven-fold, depending on the situation. So whatever is lost, will be returned to us many times, by faith in God’s word and his justice.
However, it is not God’s plan for us to succumb to the enemy’s attacks, (he doesn’t prevent him attacking,) for he promises us the victory. But there is no victory without a battle, so we welcome the battles, but are determined to see the victories too! Furthermore, God promises that he will not allow us to be tested beyond our ability to bear, so the tougher the test, the tougher he thinks we are. So tough tests are God saying, ‘You’ve got what it takes!’
To a recovering knee patient, a 100 metre walk down the road is a great victory, but to an athlete in training for the Olympics it won’t help him much! As our faith grows in Christ, the battles we face must grow in proportion to our faith, because that is how faith grows. The more we can do, the more we must do.
God has given us HIS armour to protect us. It is the shield of FAITH that extinguishes the flaming arrows of the evil one:
In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Ephesians 6:16
Notice that it is US who extinguish them, using God’s shield. We must be an active partner in God’s plan of protection, and that begins by having faith in his word. Lord, you have promised to protect us. Therefore we go, expecting protection! When (not if) we are attacked, we press on, knowing that God has given us the victory in Christ. We stand on the Lord’s promises.
Of course when you are being attacked, the one thing you don’t feel like doing is fighting. That is why we are a team. If one of us is wounded, the others step in, heal the wounds, and fight off the enemy!
for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity. Proverbs 24:16
Why do some of us seem to suffer so much, and some not?