The Just Shall Live by Faith

Habakkuk cried out from the watchtower. Violence and spoiling filled the land. The law was disobeyed, yet judgment did not go forth. The wicked compassed the righteous. Then the Lord answered from His holy temple.

“Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.” (Habakkuk 2:4 KJV)

This was the word that came to the prophet. A word of life. A declaration of how the righteous would endure until the appointed time. Not by strength. Not by human intellect. By faith.

The soul that sins finds no standing. Only the just find life. Life sustained by faith.

Faith is assurance. Conviction. Substance. The evidence of things not seen. Never a feeling, nor a wish but a spiritual reality. Not by sight. Not by reason.

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:17 KJV)

The just live by the Word of God.

Apostle Paul declared this in Rome. The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. As it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” The wrath of God is revealed against ungodliness. Mercy is revealed to the faithful.

Abraham believed God. It was counted to him for righteousness. He staggered not at the promise of God. Strength came through faith.

In the beginning, God spoke worlds into existence. By faith, the worlds were framed by the word of God. Things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. Faith perceives the invisible.

The shield of faith quenches fiery darts of the wicked. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. He that comes to God must believe that He is. He must believe that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.

Faith moves mountains. Faith commands the sun to stand still. Faith shuts the mouths of lions. Faith quenches fire. Faith turns weakness into power.

The just walk in this faith through trials, temptations, troubles, and persecutions. The world sees trouble; the just see glory. The world sees lack; the just see provision. The world sees death; the just see resurrection.

Christ is the Author and Finisher of faith. For the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross. He despised the shame. He sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

The just live by faith in God. The Son of God loved the church and gave Himself for it. To sanctify and cleanse it. To present it holy and without blemish.

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God…” (Galatians 2:20 KJV)

No weapon formed against shall prosper. Every tongue that rises in judgment shall be condemned. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord.

The just stand fast and the just overcome the world.

For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. (1 John 5:4 KJV)

Victory by faith. Through the life of faith.

LET US PRAY

Lord, increase faith. Let life be lived by Your Word alone.

In Jesus’ mighty name, Amen!

Heaven Is Not Far Away

Stephen stood before the council, his face shining like the face of an angel. The men who sat in judgment stopped their ears. They gnashed their teeth, rushed in one accord, but Stephen looked up.

He looked and saw something men do not see. He said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.” (Acts 7:56)

They cast him out of the city.

The executioners laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul.

As stones flew, Stephen knelt and prayed “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.”

The cross still speaks redemption. The old rugged cross still stands. Stephen saw heaven opened and saw the Son of man standing.

The faithful saw home.

Jacob experienced this. While in the wilderness, his head on a stone, fleeing a brother. As he dreamt that night, a ladder stood on the earth, top reaching heaven. Angels ascending and descending upon it.

Jacob awoke and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not.” (Genesis 28:16)

In the wilderness, in the place of his exile, in the moment of his deepest loneliness, Jacob found that heaven was nearer than he had ever known.

The psalmist wrote, “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:1-2)

From the LORD who sits above all comes help. Neither from the north nor south, east nor west, but from above. From heaven, from the right hand of the Father, from the throne of grace, from where mercy flows.

Though the faithful may see the sickness, the troubles, the broken relationships, the unfinished business, the unanswered prayers.

The whisper of an effectual fervent prayer goes up to heaven. The Lord is near.

“Our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 3:20)

“Conversation” could mean citizenship. Citizens of heaven with streets made of gold, sons and daughters of the kingdom, heirs of the Father.

Behold, the Lord‘s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear. (Isaiah 59:1)

Heaven is no distant planet. I do not know what tomorrow holds but l know the one that knows.

Stephen saw heaven open when stones flew. Jacob saw the ladder as he lay on the ground with nothing. John saw the open door when he was exiled on the island of Patmos. In moments troubled on every side, heaven came nearer.

Heaven watches over all. The Lord God watches over the faithful. He hears and He heals.

Let Us Pray

Father, thank You for You are near.

In Jesus’ name, Amen!

Troubled On Every Side, Yet Not Distressed

Paul wrote these words from a Roman dungeon. A chain bound his wrist to a soldier. Every few hours, a new guard took the place of the old one, while the iron remain fastened onto his skin. Two years passed in that confinement where he waited for Caesar to hear his case.

News arrived from Corinth. The church he planted there, the people he taught for eighteen months, the ones he led to Christ one by one, were turning against him.

False apostles had entered the assembly, telling the Corinthians that Paul was weak, that his ministration was unimpressive, that he collected money for himself. They said he was no true apostle.

Paul had worked with his hands making tents in Corinth by himself, so no one could feel burdened. He had taught in the synagogue even on Sabbath days. He had been attacked five times in other cities, stoned and left for dead, shipwrecked three times.

Men who never carried any affliction for the sake of the gospel slandered his name, while the church he laboured to build believed them.

He sat in that cell and wrote to them anyway.

“We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9)

In the midst of tribulation that surrounded him, he could still breathe, pray, write and trust God.

Perplexed could mean not knowing how things will turn out. Paul did not know if the church would survive. He did not know if he would live or die. He did not know why God allowed these things.

Despair could mean having no way out. Paul always saw a way out, even if that way was through death unto glory.

At his first defence before the Roman court, no man stood with him. They all forsook him. They left him to face the tribulations all alone. But the Lord did not forsake him. He strengthened him.

Paul carried a seal within. He called it a treasure in an earthly vessel. The vessel is clay, easily destroyed. The body, the flesh, the outward man that perishes. But the treasure within is of eternal life that could never be destroyed.

When the vessel is pressured, the treasure shines forth. When the body is cast down, glory arises.

Paul called it light affliction. Could beating, stoning and shipwrecks be light affliction? Could being abandoned and forsaken be light affliction?

Paul weighed these things that were momentary against the glory that was coming. He put the troubles and afflictions on one scale and the glory on the other. The glory outweighed, for Christ is the hope of glory.

So Paul called his troubles momentary. A thousand years is like a day unto the Lord. Paul’s sufferings were a passing shadow compared to the glory ahead.

He wrote,

“Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” (2 Corinthians 4:17)

The affliction was working for good, paving the way for glory. All the troubles of this world could never balance the scale.

Paul learned to look away from the things he could see. The chain, the soldiers, the four walls, the reports from Corinth, the slander of false apostles, the abandonment of family and friends and other things around him that anyone could see with the eyes. He looked beyond earthly things.

Rather, he fixed his gaze on things above. He looked up. For help cometh not from the north, south, east nor west but from the Lord.

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)

The glory. The reward. The throne of grace. The eternal life.

Things earthly eyes could see were temporary. The chain would go off. The soldier would go home. The walls would fall. The false apostles would be exposed. The Corinthians would return or they would not. Either way, heaven and earth shall pass away.

God used Paul to evangelize the reach of the gospel in Damascus, Arabia, Jerusalem, Tarsus, Antioch, Seleucia, Cyprus, Perga, Antioch Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe, Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, Corinth, Ephesus, Caesarea, and lastly in Rome.  

This gospel today came through the persecutions, tribulations and sacrifices of many who laid down their lives selflessly for the redemption of souls. God never forsook them and He will not forsake you.

Troubled on every side? Perplexed? Persecuted? Cast down? Count it all joy, for many are the afflictions of the righteous.

Let Us Pray

Heavenly Father, let the treasure of eternal life shine.

Let light afflictions prepare the way for the glory that will come, now and forever.

In Jesus’ name, Amen!