Hearing By The Word Of God

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

It is most important to understand how we gain faith and belief in God. From this passage, most folks believe that our faith comes by the auditory act of listening to the spoken word. In this case, the passage is designating the origin of the faith as derived, or, “cometh by”, hearing.

But our faith is “by”, or caused by, the word of God, which is the Holy Ghost.

Let me explain. First, we must understand the difference between “cometh by” which is first mentioned in the passage and “by” mentioned later.

“Cometh by” is from the Greek word, transliterated, “ek”. It is designating the point of origin of the subject matter. In this case, the subject matter is our hearing.

“By” comes from the Greek word, transliterated, “dia” which shows cause.

God’s word, in this passage, enters into us through the auditory function of hearing. This act alone is not sufficient to gain faith. If it was, then all we would have to do is read God’s word and anyone within earshot would instantly believe and have faith in God. This, as we all know, does not happen.

The cause of our faith is by the act of the word of God. The word of God is the Holy Spirit working within us.

“So then faith cometh by hearing”, or when we hear God’s word, “and hearing by the word of God”, when the Holy Ghost excites our spirit, opens our eyes and hearts to God the father, then and only then can we receive God into our hearts and gain true faith in Him.

The vehicle for faith is the hearing of God’s word, but not the cause of it. The cause of our faith is the Holy Ghost. Without the Holy Ghost moving on our spirit when God’s word is delivered, then there can be no faith. This explains why two people can hear the exact same message. One person walks away unchanged while the other person being excited by the Holy Ghost and his eyes opened, has absolute faith and belief in God.

“And this is a remarkable passage with regard to the efficacy of preaching; for he testifies, that by it faith is produced. He had indeed before declared, that of itself it is of no avail; but that when it pleases the Lord to work, it becomes the instrument of his power. And indeed the voice of man can by no means penetrate into the soul; and mortal man would be too much exalted, were he said to have the power to regenerate us; the light also of faith is something sublimer than what can be conveyed by man: but all these things are no hindrances, that God should not work effectually through the voice of man, so as to create faith in us through his ministry.” – John Calvin.

God’s word, His plan and promise, brought to life by the Holy Ghost, is how we see, know, understand, believe and have faith in our Lord.

I stand with Manchester

Here come the “I stand with Manchester” posts. Stop it. Just, stop it. It accomplishes the exact same thing as “I stand with Paris” posts did and the “I stand with Orlando” posts, and so on and so on.

Posting “I stand with…” may make you feel better or give you the illusion of doing something productive, but you’re not.

Stop “standing”. Do something!

Pray for the victims and their families and friends. Pray for guidance from God. Also pray for the ability to face facts. The fact that the cause of all of these tragedies and countless others like 9/11, is Islamic terrorism. It is the spirit of antichrist in action.

Maybe if you stop posting, “I stand with…” and actually took a stand against the Islamic terrorist you could prevent having to stand with the Islamic terrorist victims.

Support those in the fight against Islamic born terrorism. Pray to God for guidance.

I’ll leave you with this. You’re not going to like it, but this is a Holy War. It is not political, racial, or geographical, it is none of that, or anything else for that matter, except this. It is a Holy war charged by the spirit of antichrist. This particular war has been going on for over 1,400 years.

Bill Hitchcock

Cold, Dark, Hate

There is no cold, just an absence of heat.

There is no dark, just the absence of light.

There is no hate, just the absence of love.

Hate is the absence of love, which means the absence of God.

“He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” (1 John 4:8)

Without love, we are self-centered and self-serving. Whatever is inconsistent with me, my, I, in a word, “Self”, becomes discarded, disregarded, discounted and dispelled. In a word, it becomes “hated”.

Self is the epitome of sin. It consumes, but never gives.

Man without love, is man with sin.

Jesus made it painfully simple when He boiled it all down to two simple commandments:

“And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. (Mark 12:29-31).

Do you have hate? Then you don’t have God. It’s as simple as that.

Trouble and Temptation

“The natural man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward–and the Christian is born to temptation just as certainly and necessarily.” – Charles Spurgeon.

Trouble and its associated pain, is what wakens us to the devil and our own sin. Physical and emotional pain due to sin, opens our eyes to spiritual depravity.

Temptation is the devil’s effort to draw us into sin. Pleasure is the allure of temptation although pain is its reality.

The devil fans the embers of our worldly lust and desires. If we allow the embers to spark and flame then our desires become our will. With our will decidedly wicked, the temptation is acted upon and our will becomes a deed of sin.

Sin unabated leads to death, if not in this world, then certainly in the next.

“But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren.” (James 1:14-15)

Grab ahold of that last statement by James. “Do not err, my beloved brethren”. “Do not err” is a warning for us not to do, which shows that sin is controllable. To do, or not do, is a product of our will. We err! Not the devil or someone else. It is our own doings.

"to err is human; to forgive, divine". Yes, “to err is human”, but it is a product of our carnal self, our corrupted body which holds sway over our will.

“to forgive, divine”, forgiveness from the one Divine, Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation. Fortunately for us, it is why He died on the cross

So, we must be careful and “watch” so as not to err into sin.

“Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak,” said Jesus to James, John and Peter at Gethsemane. (Matthew 26:41)

God gave us free will so we can choose whether or not to “enter” into temptation. The devil can’t force us into sin, but he certainly can tempt and deceive us into it.

“It is our duty to be always on our watch against Satan because we do not know when he will come. He is like a thief–he gives no intimation of his approach. Like the assassin, he will steal upon his victim. If Satan acted always above-board–if he were a bold and open adversary, we might deal with him–it is because he meets us unawares, and besets us in dark and miry places on the way, that we have need to pray against temptation and have need to hear the Savior’s admonition, “What I say unto you, I say unto all, Watch.” – Charles Spurgeon.

Trouble comes to the natural man that allows his desires to become inflamed, and then acts upon those desires. The act of sinning is powered by the will, but is not the will the very thing which allowed those desires to become inflamed in the first place? First the will allows, then second the will causes to act.

The door to sin must be opened before we can step through it to sin. Is it not the opening of the door of opportunity to sin a function of the will, just as the actual act of walking through it is as well?

Augustine said, “The choice of the will, then, is truly free when it is not the slave of vices and sins. God gave to the will such freedom, and now that it has been lost through its own fault, it cannot be restored save by Him Who could bestow it”

It is to man’s advantage to work in obedience to God’s will. It is to his detriment to act according to his own. Which will we choose to obey, ours or God’s, is a function of our free will. The spirit is “willing” to choose God but the corruptible flesh is weak. Which will we choose will determine how we act and who we are, for, “in him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28).

But to choose our own will over God’s will is to be, “carnally minded” which ends up in one place, “death”! (Romans 8:6)

The natural man is born to trouble because he adheres to his own will. This allows entrance for the devil and causes man to fall to temptation. The Christian is born to temptation but rises above it because he is following God’s will.

“In America we don’t worship government, we worship God.”

– President Donald Trump

The secular humanist and the child of God. Both put their trust, confidence and obedience in the object of their faith. One chooses government, the other chooses God. One is worldly while the other strives to keep himself, “unspotted from the world.” (James 1:27)

But here’s the thing. Man’s government is by God’s decree and design. It is His gift, to us, as a sinful people, to self-regulate, with God’s help, so that we will not completely destroy our functioning society, which we will do when left to our own, worldly devices.

We as citizens are to be subject to the higher power, the earthly government of God. For “there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.” (Romans 13:1)

Those who serve in a government capacity are “the minister of God” and their ordained purpose is “to thee for good.” (Romans 13:4)

We as citizens, are to, “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake” (1 Peter 2:13). It is important to understand the object being expressed here. It isn’t man or government, it is the Lord.

But, when government becomes the God of the people instead of a tool for the people to serve God, then everything gets turned upside down. Right becomes wrong, immoral becomes moral, and sin becomes righteousness. The functioning society collapses.

Everything crumbles when God is not the object, the supreme and priority. Don’t be fooled if destruction doesn’t happen all at once. Deterioration, decay and erosion occurs over time.

The Lord will not forsake his people

“For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name's sake: because it hath pleased the Lord to make you his people.” (1 Samuel 12:20)

God will not leave or reject us because of the magnitude and glory of who He is, His word and promise. But, we have free will and can choose to reject Him and His word. So let’s just stop and think about this for a moment. The only way to dissolve this relationship is if we choose to. But why would we? God has already chosen us, why would we not reciprocate?

The only time we reject God is when we think we are better than God. When pride swells within and we believe that we know better and can do better than Him. It is what happened to Adam and Eve. 

The first sin was not the eating the forbidden fruit. That was the result of the first sin. The first sin in mankind was pride. The cause was pride, the effect was disobeying God’s will. The devil utilized man’s pride to his advantage in persuading Eve and then Eve’s ability to influence Adam.

If Adam and Eve had kept God, and not self, as supreme in their heart they would have never rejected God and His word.

Earthen Vessels

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” (2 Corinthians 4:7)

For we are nothing but fragile clay pots, formed by God of the dust of the earth. But these earthen vessels, these clay pots are God breathed and spirit filled. When our spirit mingles with the God Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth and Comfort, we the natural become capable of the supernatural.

What we are able to do and what we are able to become, as broken clay pots exceeds the laws and limitations of this corporeal world. This is something so wondrous that the, “principalities and powers in heavenly places” are amazed and realize, “the manifold wisdom of God” (Ephesians 3:10).

Most Frightening Passage

The following, to me, is the most frightening passage in the Bible.

“The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved” (Jeremiah 8:20).

Fortunately for us all, it is not too late to be saved, but rather now is the perfect time!

“For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2)

Accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour and He, “will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” (2 Corinthians 6:18)

Men of Corrupt Minds

There’s something stuck in my mind I can’t shake. It is most applicable to the political and social environment we are in today. What has stayed in my thoughts is found in Paul’s first letter to Timothy.

“Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.” (1 Timothy 1:5).

Paul earlier defines what he means when he says, “men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth”. It is someone who consents, “not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness”.

Simply put, men of corrupt minds that are void of truth are those who reject Jesus Christ as the incarnate Word of God. They forego the spoken word of Jesus Christ and the revelation of His divine plan and purpose. And finally, the doctrine from God inspired men who were given knowledge and foresight of the way, the truth and the light.

What is to be expected of these corrupted men? “Perverse disputings”. They will dote “about questions and strifes of words” creating “envy, strife, railings” and “evil surmisings” (1 Timothy 6:4)

Doesn’t this all bring to mind the political and social environment we are in today?

What are we to do? Paul says we should, “withdraw thyself”. (1 Timothy 6:5). Disengage from the “perverse disputings” and do not associate with the “men of corrupt minds” that are “destitute of the truth”.

King Solomon put it this way:

“Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall. For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence. (Proverbs 4: 14-17).

Perversity and corruption will turn the truth upside down to create a lie. Men of corrupt minds suppose that gain is godliness. Paul rights the ship when he says, “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” (1 Timothy 6:6).

Gain is carnal man’s God. God is the saintly man’s gain.

Disengage and dissociate from the perversity of the corrupt, unrighteous man. As Paul says, “But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.” (1 Timothy 6:11-12) 

The Key to Everything is Patience

"The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it" (Arnold Glasgow).

Patience! The key to everything is patience according to the American businessman and humorist Arnold Glasgow.

When hated by men for Christ’s sake Jesus said, “In your patience possess ye your souls” (Luke 21:19).

Patience! Our very souls are dependent upon it.

“For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus” (Romans 15:4-5)

Patience! From scripture, of God for our learning, hope and comfort so we all can be of the mind of Christ!

But what is patience? It is more than just letting time go by. Patience is interactive. It is encountering and weathering a situation. Patience is endurance. 

“And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved” (Matthew 10:22)

“Hypomenō” is the Greek word the King James Version Bible uses for both patience and endure.  Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon gives brilliant and more appropriate descriptive of what is meant. Remain, abide. Not recede or flee. To cleave faithfully to God. Bear bravely and calmly. Patience and endurance are attributes and armament meant to protect us from times of trial, tribulation and temptation.

A trial is a proving or a testing of us. Tribulation is pressure or more precisely a pressing as in a wine press. And temptation is an enticement given to dissuade or persuade us from our salvation.

God allows the adversity but he also always supplies the tools to outlast and overcome them.  Not only does patience allow us to grow and strengthen in Him, but is how we shed and discard the sin attached to us. Through patience comes experience which produces hope and faith. No one likes cold feet but we are all going to have to walk on the ice to cross the frozen stream of adversity. God enables us to patiently endure. The experience deepens our trust and faith in Him, deepening our bond and love.