Bringing the Word of God at The King's Church
Talk by Georges Kisombola
"Chosen to Salvation and acting on what we believe"
2 Thessalonians 2:13-17
But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.
May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.
There are three things here which deserve special attention:
- First, the fact that we are expressly told that God's elect are "chosen to salvation": Language could not be more explicit. It is to "salvation" itself that God has chosen us. You have been selected from the beginning by God to be saved. The Word says that God does not want anyone to perish. He has opened doors for everyone to enter. We have a choice to accept God’s invitation or to reject it knowing the consequences Robin preached about two weeks ago. Like Thessalonians We have choice between Eternal Life and Eternal death.
- Second, we are warned here that election to salvation does not disregard the
use of appropriate means: salvation
is reached through "sanctification of the Spirit and belief of
the truth".
You will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free. It is in
that freedom that sanctification is received. We are also invited to
believe in the Truth, to believe in that freedom we have received
and act upon what we believe so that we may be able to enjoy its
benefits.
Let me make it clear here. It is not true that because God has chosen a certain one to salvation that he will be saved no matter what happens, whether he believes or not: nowhere do the Scriptures so represent it. The same God who "chose us to salvation" decreed that His purpose should be realised through the work of the spirit and belief of the truth.
We may all know that we have been saved by Grace. We may all understand that we have been sanctified; our inner being has been cleansed by the work of the Spirit of God. We may all declare that we believe in the Truth. However Life can seem confusing at times. Sudden changes in our situation or the people's behaviour can make us wonder how to go forward and we start questioning what we believe. When we face such situation we need to have faith in God and exercise it to sustain our belief.
We know that God is trustworthy. He is the One who created us. God sent His Son to die in our place. With His great power, He resurrected Christ. He cleansed us. He adopted us permanently into His family. With that same power, God is able to keep every one of His promises. These are solid reasons that we can depend upon Him and Trust Him. That is where Faith comes in.
There are several signs that many Christians don't trust the Lord. Sometimes we rely on other things to determine our course of action. We lean on our reasoning power, possessions, material desires, or feelings. You may also spend all your life seeking advice and help from other people and reluctantly seek help from God and His Word. These ways show a lack of trust in Him and weak faith.
Some things keep us from placing our full confidence in God. One obstacle is a lack of awareness that God desires an intimate relationship with us. If we don't realise that He is deeply interested in our affairs, then we won't look to Him for guidance. A second barrier is pride. We often would rather rely on ourselves than depend solely on Him. Placing our confidence in the almighty, eternal triune God is always wise. He can be trusted in every situation.
While preparing this word, the Holy Spirit did not stop pressing on me the need to talk about Faith today which testifies what and whom we believe. It’s one thing to talk about faith – it’s quite another to act on faith.
- FAITH IS BELIEVING WHEN I DON’T SEE IT
Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." -- It sounds like a contradiction, but the Bible teaches that faith is visualizing the future in the present. It's being sure of what you don't see – It is seeing it in advance. Man says: "Seeing is believing." God says: "Believing is seeing." Everything that's happened in life was impossibility before it became a reality and somebody had to believe it. Faith is simply trusting God to turn dreams into reality. Because nothing happens until somebody believes it's possible.
What do you see in your own future? What is your dream? What impossible thing is God going to do in your life? You have to have faith that it is going to happen for it to happen – you have to be certain that God can and will do these things in your life.
What do you envision as the future of this church? What can we be sure of, what can we know with certainty that God is going to do through us? That is FAITH
- FAITH IS OBEYING WHEN I DON’T UNDERSTAND IT
Faith is obeying when you don't understand it. At 75 years of age, Abraham starts out on the greatest journey of his life and becomes the father of a nation. God doesn’t tell him the name of the place he is going and He doesn’t tell him how far away it is. The question is: would you go? Would I go?
Faith is obeying when you don't understand it. Today there are a lot of people who want a guarantee of success before they try anything, but God says, "No." Because faith always involves risks – God wants to force you to trust Him. That is FAITH
- FAITH IS GIVING WHEN I DON’T HAVE IT
"– Hebrews 11: 4 Able gave in faith. Faith is giving when I don't have it to give. Giving and faith go together. In fact, God uses finances to test us all the time. You can give by faith, or you can give by fear. Giving by fear is when you say, "How much can I afford to give?" Giving by faith is when you say, "How much does God want me to give, whether I've got it to give or not?" That's what it means to give in faith. "...by faith (Abel) was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offering .... Paul tells us about the giving of the Macedonian Christians in 2 Cor. 8:2-3: “Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability… – 2 Corinthians 8:2-3
- FAITH IS PERSISTING WHEN I DON’T FEEL LIKE IT
You know the culture today says, "Base everything you do on how you feel." In other words, if you feel like doing it, do it – If you don't feel like doing it, don't do it. That is a guaranteed formula for immaturity, because immature people build their lives on feelings rather than on commitments.
What happens when you live your life based on how you feel? You end up being manipulated by moods. You flip-flop around because you feel different from day to day. One of the marks of maturity is when you live your life by commitments rather than by feelings.
The truth is, I don't always feel like doing what's right. Do you? I don't always feel like being nice to my wife. I don't always feel like praying and reading God’s Word. But the issue is not what do we feel, but do we do the right thing?
Hebrews 11:27 “By faith Moses left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the King; for endured, as seeing Him who is unseen”. So how do you get that kind of persistence and endurance? Well, consider this verse, “By faith (Moses) left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.” What made him persistent? It's that last phrase; He saw Him who's invisible. We can only accomplish the impossible when we see the invisible. If you keep your eyes on God, He'll give you the power to keep on keeping on.
- FAITH IS THANKING GOD BEFORE I RECEIVE IT
Now, a good example of this is Joshua: "By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days." – Hebrews 11:30
During Israel’s wanderings, they come up to the most fortified city in the world, Jericho with its enormous walls. Now here are people who have been slaves for 400 years. They're not a trained army. They have no weapons.
God says, "Okay, guys. Here's my plan: I want you to walk around this city, once a day, for six days. Just march around it in silence. And then, on the seventh day, I want you to march around it seven times. And I want you to be thanking Me in advance, all during this time. Trust in Me. This is going to be a statement of faith, by your marching around, because you expect Me to work."
And they're marching around just like God told them to, and the walls came tumbling down. They had victory.
What were they doing? They were thanking God in advance. That's what faith is. Faith is not believing God can do it. God can do it whether you believe it or not. His ability is not dependent upon your faith.
Faith doesn’t even mean “believe he will do it”. That's hope – "I hope He will. I hope He'll answer my prayer. I hope He'll save my marriage. I hope He'll get me a job. I hope He'll find me a marriage partner. I hope I'll get well." That's hope.
Faith is thanking God in advance. It's believing that God is already doing it – In the present – That the answer is already on its way. Look at this verse, “…I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” – Mark 11:24
- FAITH IS TRUSTING IF I DON’T GET IT
TWO FACTS ABOUT PRAYER:
a) God always hears and answers every prayer.
Always – God always hears and answers every prayer.
b) God does not always answer the way we want Him to.
Have you found that to be true? Sometimes His answer is, "You've got to be kidding!" or "No way!" or "Not yet" or "Later" or "Wait a while". God answers in many, many different ways. And, sometimes, God says No. Why? Because He doesn't love you? No, because He does love you.
Look at these verses, "They were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect." – Hebrews 11:39-40
- FAITH IS BELIEVING WHEN I DON’T SEE IT
- Third, that God has chosen us unto salvation is a profound cause for fervent
praise. Note how strongly the apostle expresses this - "we are
bound to give thanks always to God for you.
Our faith is the most important aspect of our Christian walk. Without it, we can't receive Jesus as Saviour, trust God to supply our needs, or develop the spiritual fruit that is so important to our growth. While maintaining the central importance of faith, we are challenged to notice how our beliefs play out in action. It isn't enough just to pray for a hungry or hurting person if we have the means to take care of this immediate physical needs. The actions we take reveal the substance of our faith.
A tourist came too close to the edge of the Grand Canyon, lost his footing and plunged over the side, clawing and scratching to save himself. After he went out of sight and just before he fell into space, he stumbled upon a scrubby bush which he desperately grabbed with both hands. Filled with terror, he called out toward heaven, "Is there anyone up there?" A calm, powerful voice came out of the sky, "Yes, there is." The tourist pleaded, "Can you help me? Can you help me?" The calm voice replied, "Yes, I probably can. What is your problem?" "I fell over the cliff and am dangling in space holding to a bush that is about to let go. Please help me." The voice from above said, "I'll try. Do you believe?" "Yes, yes, I believe."' "Do you have faith?" "Yes, yes. I have strong faith." The calm voice said, "Well, in that case, simply let loose of the bush and everything will turn out fine." There was a tense pause, then the tourist yelled, "Is there anyone else up there?"