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TRANSCRIPT – LIVING FAITH (0609)
VOICEOVER:
The Key of David with Gerald Flurry.
GERALD FLURRY:
Greetings, everyone. I’d like to tell you
about the most dynamic, successful man
that I have ever known, and that man
was Herbert W. Armstrong, and he died
in 1986. In the early years of his
ministry he went through some serious
poverty, some 28 years before he built
within himself—or God built within
him—a living faith, and then with that
living faith he built one of the greatest
works this world has ever known, in
terms of people that were reached. He
was on over 400 television stations, had
a magazine that had some 8 million
subscribers, he had an annual income of
over $200 million a year, and when he
died there was a property value of
somewhat beyond a third of a billion
dollars. He raised up three liberal arts
colleges, and just sent the most powerful
message around the world that I have
ever heard, but he had living faith, and
that certainly impressed me.
But did you know that most people on
this earth have a dead faith; people who
think they have real faith have a dead
faith? Now, you don’t have to take my
word for that; Jesus Christ prophesied
words to that effect. He, Himself—that’s
again, this is our Head, or supposed to be
the Head of the Church—and He said,
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“…when the Son of man cometh,” that
Second Coming, “shall he find faith on
the earth?” And of course, He was
implying that He would not, and it says
as much there. Would He really find
faith? Now, you can find that scripture in
Luke 18:8, where He said He would be
avenging His very elect who cry day and
night to Him, but He ended on a sad
note. But when the Son of man comes,
shall He find faith on the earth?
Now, this is the Head of the Church, and
those were His own words, and that
ought to alarm anybody—certainly
anybody who says they’re a Christian—
to have the Head of their Church make a
statement like that, or ask a question like
that about the conditions in this world
just before His Second Coming. Does
that alarm you? Does it alarm me?
I want to talk to you today about living
faith. Living faith, and let’s start over in
Isaiah 55:1-2. (1) Ho, everyone that
thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and
he that hath no money; come ye, buy,
and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price. (2)
Wherefore do ye spend money for that
which is not bread? and your labour
for that which satisfieth not?
Now, this is a personal question for all
of us. Does what you labor for—you
need to be very open and honest about
this, now—but does what you labor for
really satisfy you? Now, this prophecy,
again another one for the end time, says
no, that’s not the way it is in this world.
Even most religions labor for that which
does not satisfy. Most Christians,
frankly.
Revelation 12:9. The whole world is
deceived; they’re deceived about what
living faith is, and you know—I think if
we’re honest, you know people who are
out there laboring for that which doesn’t
satisfy, and probably many of you would
have serious questions about that,
yourself.
Now, Christ said of Himself that, “I, of
Myself, can do nothing.” He couldn’t do
anything, but the Spirit, the Father,
which dwell within Him, that is the
power which does the Works. Now, He
also told us that we could have that same
power, the same power that Jesus Christ
had, and you know what an impact He
had on the world, so what kind of an
impact ought we to have—you and I—if
we really have a living faith? The same
faith that Jesus Christ had. You know
you’re going to have a real impact on
this world, but that living faith is a gift,
and God has to give it to us.
But why do we lack the power of Christ
today? Why do we lack that? Well, it’s
not because God denies us that power,
but this is a materialistic world, and
we’re so close to it and have
materialistic desires, and it takes us
away from God and away from the kind
of study we ought to have—real, intense
Bible study—and submissive,
surrendering prayer to God, and then
God says He will fill us with His Holy
Spirit, because we do have to have that
Spirit, that real power to be able to do
anything. We’re incomplete without it.
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But does your labor satisfy you? Do you
feel complete? Does that power work
within your life?
Now, this is not some phony stuff that
I’m talking to you about, at all, and if
you want to know exactly how to get
that power, write for our little booklet on
‘Repentance Toward God,’ and it will
show you how to get that power into
your life, and believe me, it will be filled
with what satisfies.
Let me read to you what Herbert
Armstrong wrote in his little booklet on
‘What is Faith?’ which we’ll offer you at
the end of this program. He said: ‘You
see, God does not promise healing, or
anything else, unless we believe.
“According to your faith be it unto you.”
That’s Matthew 9:29. He goes on to say:
‘And remember the faith must precede,
and therefore is a condition to, the
possession. One man expressed it very
well: “Faith is the assurance that the
things which God said in His Word are
true: and that God will act according to
what He has said in His Word. This
assurance, this reliance on God's Word,
this confidence, is faith!” Now, he
quoted that person, then he said: ‘And it
is a true Bible definition. This Work of
God has been built by putting it into
actual practice!’ See, he built those
three liberal arts colleges, educated
thousands, sent a powerful message
around the world for years, and excelled
in any other religious program, I think,
when you look at the entire worldwide
work that he was a part of.
But don’t you think today most people
would say—well, they’re negative about
it, I think, in far too many cases—they’d
say, “Well, what is God? Well, how can
I know God's will?” Well, you can know
God's will because it’s in the Bible. The
Bible is filled with God's will, and with
many wonderful promises to His people.
Many of them, that He said, “I will do
this if you believe Me, have a living
faith!”
Notice James 2:17. Verse (17) Even so
faith, if it hath not works, is dead,
being alone. (18) Yea, a man may say,
Thou hast faith, and I have works:
shew me thy faith without thy works,
and I will shew thee my faith by my
works. See, I will show you my faith by
my works.
Now, you have some people saying
today that, well, we don’t need works.
Don’t you believe it! Don’t you believe
it! Here James, the brother of Christ,
said, “I will show you my faith by my
works.” And incidentally, he was killed
for what he believed. I’d say he was a
good example of living faith. He wasn’t
just saying that; he meant it.
But we show God, and people, that we
have faith by our works. Now, Mr.
Armstrong had those mighty works, and
there were many obstacles, many
problems and difficulties where he just
simply had to trust God, and there was
no other way to solve them, and he
learned some valuable lessons that way.
Here, again, is what he said in ‘What is
Faith?’ ‘…if you’ll just as boldly tell
God He has promised and then claim
that promise as applied to your case and
trust God to keep it and quit worrying
about it—quit trying to work up faith—
just relax, and let God take over from
there—leave it with Him—let Him do
it—He’ll do it, every time!’ He’ll do it
every time! ‘I know whereof I speak…’
Now, he did this for 57 years. He says: ‘I
know whereof I speak, because I’ve put
what I’m now telling you to the test not
once, but literally hundreds and
thousands of times, and God has never
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failed to keep His promise once. I’ve
seen the answers come so often and so
frequently that I expect the answer when
I ask!’
He just believed God. Now, he didn’t
just believe in God—big difference here!
Make sure you get the difference! He
didn’t just believe in God or in God's
existence, he believed God! He believed
what God said!
Now notice a marvelous example here in
verse 19, and you need to think about
this. Verse 19 of James 2: (19) Thou
believest that there is one God; thou
doest well: the [demons] also believe,
and tremble. The demons also believe
and tremble. Now, here is just a
marvelous example of dead faith. Dead
faith. Look, the demons believe in the
existence of God; they believe in His
sacrifice, they believe in His saving
Work, but they only have dead faith,
that’s all it is. That won’t get you where
you want to go, that won’t save you. It
didn’t save the demons, but they
believed in Christ. They believed in His
existence, of course, but it didn’t save
them, did it? It did not save them.
Look, they were put here to rule this
earth. To rule the earth, and they just
didn’t have the living faith to do it. They
stopped believing God, and it’s really—
so far it’s the biggest failure we’ve seen,
and has been demonstrated by the Bible
and by history, and by what you see out
in the universe, and how they wrecked it
when they rebelled against God, and just
tore the universe apart, in many ways.
That’s why it looks the way it does
today. God didn’t create it with all those
dead planets out there like you see today.
The really monstrous irony here is this:
that God was preparing those angels—at
that time—to rule the earth, and then on
to the universe and rule the whole
universe, but they failed and God had to
decide at that time, “Well, I can’t use
angels; I have to re-create Myself in
man,” and He’s given that transcendental
potential now to man, that is to go out in
the universe and rule it after they learn
to rule this earth. You see, but first—
first we have to learn to rule the earth,
and you can look around and you know
man has certainly not learned that yet.
The angels just simply weren’t up to
doing what God wanted to do, and God
just said, “Only God can rule the
universe.”
Now, that takes a living faith. When you
get into thinking like that it really takes a
living faith, and when you build a Work
like Herbert W. Armstrong did, it takes
living faith, but he had come to see that
the Bible is just full of promises from
God. I mean, all kinds of marvelous,
exciting promises, and he said God
fulfilled every single one of them! Every
one of them! Now, that’s living faith.
How much of that do you see on this
earth today? Look, I can tell you. I
mean, we raise up a college, and we
have a Work and a message reaching
around this world as he did, and God has
given us wonderful land and buildings,
beautiful buildings to do this Work. And
all we’ve ever done, really, is just follow
his example of living faith. We’ve
followed one man’s example of living
faith. Faith is a gift, though (Ephesians
2:8). It’s a gift.
You can look at Revelation 14:12, and it
says that the very elect have the faith of
Jesus Christ, not faith in Him, but the
faith of Christ, the same faith. Now, you
know, you know if you have that kind of
faith you’re going to have an impact in
this world. You’re going to have an
impact on people if you have that kind of
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faith. Now, I’ll tell you this—you’ll do a
mighty Work. Or you’ll help do a
mighty Work, and you can’t do
otherwise if you have the faith of Christ.
Now, we really have to be concerned
about what Christ says. That’s why I
emphasized that scripture in the
beginning about ‘shall He find faith
when He returns to this earth?’
Notice verse (20) But wilt thou know,
O vain man, that faith without works
is dead? (21) Was not Abraham our
father justified by works, when he had
offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
Whoa! That’s getting to be serious!
Abraham’s called the father of the
faithful, and he became incredibly
wealthy by just exercising living faith.
But God gave him a son, and He
promised him that son, and he had to
wait 25 years for that son, and he was an
old man when the son came. And you
know how old men can worship their
son, and yet God said, “Abraham, I want
you to take that son and sacrifice him,”
and that’s exactly what Abraham did.
Now, those are works. That probably is
the greatest act of living faith in the
Bible. I don’t know what would be
greater, and that’s the kind of faith, you
see, he became the father of the faithful.
We need to look to Abraham to see how
to have living faith. The father of the
faithful.
That kind of living faith will save
people. Dead faith won’t save one soul.
It won’t save one soul; it didn’t save the
demons. They believe in God's existence
and His sacrifice and His saving Work,
but that didn’t get them any place,
certainly not into God's family. But
Abraham was a type of God, the Father,
who did sacrifice His Son, His only
begotten Son. For you! I mean He did it
for you, for me, for each one of us, and
that ought to impact us tremendously.
Notice verse (22) Seest thou how faith
wrought with his works, and by works
was faith made perfect? See, the works
make it perfect, not just faith alone that
you hear so much about today, but it’s
faith with those works. The works make
their faith perfect! You have to do
something! We have to step out and do
what God says.
Verse (23) And the scripture was
fulfilled which saith, Abraham
believed God….Abraham believed
God…and it was imputed unto him
for righteousness: You see, there’s the
saving power of that faith…and he was
called the Friend of God. He became
God's Friend. But notice this carefully.
He didn’t just have faith in God. He
didn’t just believe in God. It says
Abraham believed God! Three of the
most important words in the Bible.
Abraham believed God! Living faith! He
believed what God said! He believed the
Word of God in this Bible, and look
what happened in his life! And look
what an example he is for us today, and
will be throughout all eternity, sitting
right there, at the right hand of Jesus
Christ. The father of the faithful; he set
an example for all of us. He believed in
the promises of the Bible.
Verse (24) Ye see then how that by
works a man is justified, and not by
faith only. (25) Likewise also was not
Rahab the harlot justified by works,
when she had received the messengers,
and had sent them out another way?
Well, how about that? This lady risked
her life, risked her life to help these
messengers of God that were doing the
Work of God anciently, and she stepped
out and risked her life because she knew
it was the Work of God, and she had
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repented of her sins, and she stepped out
and did something. And I mean she
really did something, and God used her
here as a noble example for all time.
Now, most people would say, “Well,
surely God wouldn’t expect me to step
out and risk my life and maybe get
killed? I mean I can’t fight against the
state,” they might say. But Rahab didn’t
say that because she had living faith.
Christ didn’t say that. He stood up to the
whole world. He stood up to the great
Roman Empire, the powers of the whole
world, the great powers of the whole
world. He didn’t say, “Well, I can’t
stand up against them.” He stood up
against them, and set an example for
each one of us that is going to resound
throughout the universe for all eternity,
because He had living faith. He had
living faith.
Now, of course, Rahab had to first
repent of her harlotry, that very great
evil, but when she did and when she had
works, God said, “I counted it as
righteousness just like I did with
Abraham.” And He puts her right up
there with Abraham! I mean, this what
some people might call a pretty shady
lady, put her right up there with
Abraham! Because she believed God,
and did something to show it! Showed
her faith by her works, and she saved the
lives of God's messengers who were
doing the Work of God. She did
something. She stepped out and helped
Israel.
Today God is using spiritual Israel, and
so we step out and we do the Work of
God. We do something! And I think
most of you share that belief.
Notice, again, what Mr. Armstrong
wrote in ‘The Seven Laws of Success.’
‘The Eternal Creator, who made us in
His own likeness, is Creator of all that
is. Everything man needs to make life
continuously and abundantly satisfying,
must come from Him. He is the source of
supply. He is the giver of everything
good. Why must men ignore the true
source, and try to obtain where there is
nothing to be obtained? If I wish to draw
clear, sparkling drinking water from a
well, I will go to a well filled with such
water, not to one that is empty.’
Now he quotes Jeremiah 2: (13) For my
people have committed two evils; they
have forsaken me the fountain of
living waters, and hewed them out
cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold
no water. That’s a prophecy of what
happens to God's Church in this end
time. In fact, James is addressing—he
addresses his book to God's own Church.
Now, this is a pathetic situation of His
own people turning to dead faith. Dead
faith. The most earth-shaking power you
can imagine is available to them, and
they’re out there—in a figurative
sense—building cisterns to hold water,
and those cisterns never hold water, and
it’s just a frustrating, ongoing, endless
life of dead faith that produces nothing
but misery and unhappiness and a lack
of real success, and they’re never
satisfied, and they still haven’t learned
the lesson about living faith.
Now, you ought to read in Daniel 3
about Shadrach, Meschach, and
Abednego. They went up before
Nebuchadnezzar, and they were told to
bow down before an image. They knew
that was disobeying God. They would
not do it; they said No. He called them
before them, said, “OK, if you don’t do
that I’m going to throw you into this
burning fiery furnace, and that’s going to
be the end of you.” And I mean there
was absolutely no evidence that God had
heard their prayers or anything else. And
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they told the king, “Well, you just go
right ahead and you throw us in. We’re
not going to bow down to your god; we
obey the living God,” because they had
living faith. So here comes
Nebuchadnezzar, has his men take those
three young fellows—young men—and
throw them into the fiery furnace, and
the furnace was so hot it burned the guys
alive that took them up there to throw
them in. Threw all three of them into a
fiery furnace, and Nebuchadnezzar
looked down into that furnace and saw
that there were four in that furnace. Four
figures down in there, and he said, and it
says there in Daniel that “One was like
unto the Son of man,” that Jesus Christ
just went right in there with them
because they had living faith, and there
was NO EVIDENCE they were going to
be saved. I’m SURE they thought they
were going to die, but they kept God's
promise. They lived by their faith, and
that’s the kind of miracles you’ll see if
people do that. You’re going to see all
kinds of miracles in your life and do
wonderful works, wonderful works just
like Herbert Armstrong did all of his life,
if you’ll just step out and have living
faith and trust God's promises.
Until next week, this is Gerald Flurry.
Goodbye, friends.
VOICEOVER:
Request our two free booklets, The
Seven Laws of Success and What is
Faith? Both of these booklets were
written by the late Herbert W.
Armstrong. Writing from biblical
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Herbert Armstrong wrote in a manner
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bible. The Seven Laws of Success and
What is Faith will show you how to have
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