"Go Ye into All the World and Preach the Gospel....."

CHAPTER FIVE: THE SHIELD OF FAITH TO QUENCH ALL THE FIERY DARTS OF THE WICKED!

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We need the next piece of armor, the shield of faith, from the very first day we are born again to ward off the fiery darts of the wicked. Ephesians 6:16, "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." First Peter 5:8-9, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion [not a roaring lion, but as a roaring lion], walketh about, seeking whom he may devour; Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world." Steadfast is "stereos", solid, stable, strong, sure.

The word faith appears only two times in the old testament and somewhere between 250 and 280 times in the New Testament. Before Jesus came and delivered us from the power of sin and the devil it was very difficult to have faith. Galatians 3:11-12, "But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith:" One of the two times the word faith is used in the old testament is in Habakkuk 2:4, "but the just shall live by his faith." Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11 and Hebrews 10:38 tells us that, "The just shall live by faith." This is what God was saying in Habakkuk 2:4, "but the just shall live by his faith." in the old testament, but now we are able to become just by faith through the works of the Cross, God’s "Starter Kit" by Jesus.

Mark 4:35-40, "And the same day, when the even was come, He [Jesus] saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took Him even as He was in the ship. And there were also with Him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And He was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake Him, and say unto Him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?

And He arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And He said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?" We, through Jesus, The Word of God, can speak to and have faith to calm our storms. I was going through a storm and made the comment to a friend of mine, Rob Weinger, that I sure would be glad when Jesus speaks to my storm. He immediately replied and said "Why don’t you speak to the storm?" At that point it dawned on me that the storm was my storm, not God’s and I had actually created the storm in my own mind and now I needed to speak to my storm and say to myself, "Peace, be still" and have faith in the Word of God and calm my storm. Ephesians 6:16, "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts [storms] of the wicked." Matthew 12:37, "For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned."

Mark 11:12-14, 20-26 "And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, He [Jesus] was hungry: And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, He came, if haply He might find any thing thereon: and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And His disciples heard it."

Verses 20-26, "And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in Heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in Heaven forgive your trespasses."

Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 17:20 that, "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye, ye, ye, ye, ye, ye, ye shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible to you." If you have ever seen a mustard seed, that's not very much and is probably how much I had when I was born again, but it was enough for me to repent, be born again, become dead to sin, become a new creature, be given wisdom, become the righteousness of God, have peace with God, be sanctified, be justified, obtain mercy and grace, be glorified or honored, and begin to put on the preparation of peace so I could begin to fellowship with God and learn to take the shield of faith to become wise, righteous, a peacemaker, sanctified, just, merciful, forgiving, compassionate and trustworthy.

Romans 10:17 tells us that, "So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." After my bookstore closed and I was unemployed, I stopped by my parent’s one day and was watching the news on their television and they had a story about the high rate of unemployment and showing homeless people. I started to sweat and had to get up and go outside because of my lack of faith. We have to learn to trust the Word Of God, Jesus, our Lord, not the television reports or the newspaper or radio or friends or neighbors or family members or doctors report or bank statement or preacher or television evangelist or someone's well intentioned opinion or our circumstances or what you think you see, if you read it in the Bible, God said it, just believe it. Romans 10:17, "Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God."

Read the Bible like it is a personal message that was written by God just for you. My scripture in this instance should have been Philippians 4:19, "But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus", which He always has and always will and Second Corinthians 9:8, "And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:"

Hebrews 11:1-3 says, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." Is true reality what we can't see or what we can see? Anything we obtain from God will first be obtained in the spiritual realm via the Word of God and then we will see the evidence of whatever we are trusting God for in the physical realm. We can't help but want to see what we are trusting God for so we can have faith, but this is worldly reality, not spiritual reality. We need to know what the Word of God says so that we can know His will about our situation so we can learn to trust Him. I have heard preachers say that it seems that it is easier for a new Christian to have faith than older Christians, but that is because we begin to put our faith in what we see instead of things not seen-the Word of God. Second Corinthians 5:7 tells us, "(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)"

Romans 4:17 tells us that God calleth those things that be not as though they were and He told Abraham that he would be "the father of many nations" although Abraham thought he was too old and in spite of him God made him the "father of many nations."

Genesis 15:1-6, "After these things the Word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not Abram: I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward.

And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. And, behold, the Word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And He brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward Heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and He said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord; and He counted it to him for righteousness."

Genesis 17:1-7, "And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee."

Genesis 17:15-19, "And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her. Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old bear?

And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac; and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him."

The Lord and two angels appear to Abraham in Genesis 18:1-15, we will start with verse 9. "And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent. And He said; I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life, and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind Him.

Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my Lord being old also? And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?

Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And He said, Nay; but thou didst laugh."

Genesis 21:1-7, "And the Lord visited Sarah as He had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as He had spoken. For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to Him. And Abraham called the name of His son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him, Isaac.

And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac being eight days old, as God had commanded him.

And Abraham was a hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him. And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all hear will laugh with me. And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have born him a son in his old age."

God spoke to Abram, before He renamed him Abraham, father of many nations, in Genesis 15 and showed him the stars in the heavens and told him that so Abraham's seed shall be. When God changed Abram’s name He was changing his name to Abraham which means father of many nations. I was reading in Charles Capps book, "Faith and Confession" that every time someone called Abraham’s name that he was actually calling him "father of nations." The more Abraham heard that he was the "father of nations" the more he believed that he was the "father of nations." Capps related this to how we are to use God’s Word and speak it until we believe what His Word says about us so we can build our faith in God’s Word.

God prepared Abraham so that Abraham would have faith enough to believe Him and we need to know God's promises for us in the Word of God and all the many wonderful things He has done for us and realize the unbelievable benefits that we obtained at Calvary when our Lord Jesus died for us and gave us the "Starter Kit" so we can be more than conquerors through Christ Jesus, Romans 8:37, "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us."

Remember in Genesis 15:1, "After these things the Word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not Abram: I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward." The Word of God-Jesus-the Son of God is our Shield and exceeding great reward and Genesis 15:6 tells us that Abram believed the Word of the Lord and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

Do you think Abraham had very much faith? Do you think Sarah had much faith? They laughed when God told them they were going to have a child, but God had told them what He would do and in spite of them He did it and they probably started with faith about the size of a mustard seed just like when I was born again. Is anything too hard for the Lord!, is a statement of fact not a question.  

Romans 4:17-5:5, speaking of Abraham, "(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before Him whom he believed, even God who quickeneth [makes alive] the dead, and calleth those things that be not as though they were. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.

Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."

Hope is Strong’s number 1680-(To anticipate, usually with pleasure); expectation or confidence:-faith, hope. I like having confidence that God can perform that which He promises so I can stand on the Word of God-the promises of God and know that He will perfect the plan and purpose He has for my life.

Genesis 22:1-19, "And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. And He said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of Heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.

And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of Heaven the second time, And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the Heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba."

In Luke 1:67-79 we read the prophesy that Zacharias spoke at the circumcision of his son John the Baptist that was to announce the coming of the Lord, "And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for He hath visited and redeemed His people, And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David; As He spake by the mouth of His holy prophets, which have been since the world began: That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember His holy covenant; The oath which He sware to our father Abraham, That He would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve Him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life. And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways; To give knowledge of salvation unto His people by the remission of their sins, Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the Day Spring from on high hath visited us, To give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."

Galatians 3:6-9, "Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham." All the born again children of God are those that be of faith.

Let’s look at works. Ephesians 2:10, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works lest any man should boast." In James 2:17, "Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead being alone." I have people tell me all about the contradictions in the Bible and I used to agree with them, but there are no contradictions in the Bible. The one and only thing I could ever do to be saved is to repent and I didn't even know I was repenting when I repented and repentance is not works, but living the way the Word of God teaches us and doing the things the Word of God instructs us to do is works and we do these because we have repented and allowed God to implement His plan of redemption-His Starter Kit By Jesus. James 2:14-26, "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. 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.

Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." We also are friends of God when we are born again.

Acts 12:1-17, "Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.) And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people. Peter therefore was kept in prison: but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him.

And when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and the keepers before the door kept the prison. And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands. And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me.

And he went out, and followed him; and wist [saw] not that it was true which was by the angel; but thought he saw a vision. When they were past the first and the second ward [cell blocks], they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him. And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord has sent His angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all expectation of the people of the Jews. And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying.

And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda. And when she knew Peter's voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate. And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, It is his angel. But Peter continued knocking: and when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished. But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go shew these things unto James, and to the brethren. And he departed, and went into another place."

Jesus told Peter in John 21:18, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkest whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not." Way down deep Peter knew that God would provide and that he was going to be okay because of what Jesus had told him and he was sound asleep and seemed to be quite comfortable. When we get into a situation where we have to battle for our faith we must always remember the Word of God, the promises of God. When Abraham was taking Isaac to sacrifice him Abraham knew that God had told him that he was going to be a "father of many nations." God had given him Isaac and Abraham knew that Isaac was his heir that God had promised him and that somehow God would provide a sacrifice just like we need to relax and let God fulfill His plan and purpose for our lives. When God gives us something to do just do what you know to do and when and if you fail just remember Jesus tore the veil into the Holiest so that we can go to God in full assurance of faith by the blood of Jesus that was shed for the remission of our sins.

Hebrews 10:16-23, "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh; And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for He is faithful that promised;)"

The people in Acts were praying for Peter without ceasing, but evidently were looking at what happened to James and were just doing what they knew to do and they didn't appear to expect much. They told Rhoda that she was mad and she had to constantly affirm that Peter was alive and at the gate and Peter had to keep knocking to get them to even come to the gate. The people were astonished that their prayers were answered and just like Matthew 17:20 says "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." All they needed was a mustard seed of faith for God to be able to free Peter and praying in tongues and allowing the Holy Spirit to pray through us is one of our mightiest weapons and since they were fresh from the day of Pentecost I am sure they were aware of this fact.

Romans 4:17, "(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before Him whom he believed, even God who quickeneth [makes alive] the dead, and calleth those things that be not as though they were." We can also call those things that be not as though they were by quoting what God’s Word says about us and our situation and as we do our best, what we know to do, God will do the rest. All we have to do is speak God’s Word like Jesus did in Luke 4:1-14 and then wait on Him to make the things that haven't happened happen. Hebrews 11:3, "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." Whatever we are believing God for is framed by the Word of God. Things that are seen are made by faith in spiritual things not seen through faith in the Word of God-Jesus. Hebrews 12:2, "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith." Remember, we can take the parable of the sower and apply it to any thing we are seeking God for, faith included, because the Word of God is our Author, not what we see.

I have learned that sometimes we are going to be surrounded by people that we really don't know where they are with Jesus and if we look at what is happening to them, good or bad, and get our eyes off of Jesus-The Word of God-we will expect to have happen to us what is happening to them-good or bad. At least good or bad in our perception. Hebrews 12:2, "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith." Remember, we can take the parable of the sower and apply it to any thing we are seeking God for, faith included, because the Word of God is our Author and Finisher, not what we see.

Matthew 13:24-30, "The Kingdom of Heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in His field. But while men slept, His enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto Him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto Him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But He said, Nay; lest while you gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into My barn."

In Matthew 37-43 Jesus explains the parable of the wheat and tares, "He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of Man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear." We have to live for God and have faith to trust Him now, so we aren't concerned with the end of the world, but the point here is that we, as born again children of God, are surrounded by the children of the devil.

Brother Pittman's books tell of his tour of the spirit world he was taken on by angels and the Holy Spirit to ask God for an extension of his life during his near death experience. In chapter nine of his book "Placebo", as he is describing his tour of the second Heaven, the invisible world around us, he wrote, "Suddenly we came to a most beautiful place. I know that I have already reported how terrible that second Heaven was, so you can imagine how surprising it was to find anything beautiful over there. God would not allow me to retain the memory of why this place was so beautiful. I do remember that it was the most beautiful place I had ever seen. This place looked like a tunnel, a roadway, a valley or some sort of highway. It had a most brilliant light all it's own and was completely surrounded with an invisible shield. I knew that the invisible shield was the protection of the Holy Spirit.

Walking in this tunnel, or along that roadway, or valley, or whatever, was what appeared to be human beings. I asked my escort who they were. He told me, "They are saints going home." These were the departed spirits of Christians who had died on Earth and they were going home. Each of these saints were accompanied by at least one guardian angel and some had a whole host of angels with them. I wondered why some saints were accompanied by only one angel and others had many. I was watching as the saints passed through the way that all saints must take to go home. Here it was, the passageway from Earth to the Third Heaven. ,,,,,,,,,,,moving to paragraph nine.

As the saints were being admitted, I was wondering why I was not being allowed to do what I came to do. I was so impatient to get my request before God that I missed the whole point of what I saw. This point was so important that the Holy Spirit told me Himself. I watched the fifty saints enter Heaven, but the point I missed was the time frame involved. It was explained to me that at the same time those fifty saints died on Earth, 1,950 other humans also died; or only fifty out of 2,000 made it into Heaven. That other 1,950 were not there. Where were they? That was only two and one-half percent going to Heaven! Ninety-seven point five percent did not make it. Is that representative of the entire world today? If so, ninety seven and one-half percent of the population of this world today is not ready to meet God."

He further states, "At the outset, I stated that I would not try to convince anyone of anything I said. However, I would like to offer as evidence the parable of the sower as told by Jesus in the thirteenth chapter of the book of Matthew. If you read this chapter closely, you will notice that three out of every four people who heard the gospel preached, turned it down. That is seventy-five percent anyway you look at it. I am talking about three out of every four people that bothered to hear the gospel, turned it down! The sad part about this, is the overwhelming majority of the people that did turn the gospel down, do not know they have turned it down! They have bought a lie of satan and have been deceived. They have been led to believe something that is not the truth and they have been fooled by satan into rejecting the gospel. Place the seventy-five percent who have turned down the gospel with those in the world who make no pretense of hearing the truth and you have the overwhelming ninety-seven and one-half percent of the [world's] population today."

He goes on to use the illustration of the man in Matthew 7:21-23, "Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

We need to know what God's best is so we can learn to look to the Word of God-Jesus-and not man as the basis for our faith and do like Philippians 2:12-13 says, "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do His good pleasure." and realize that we are going to be in contact with people that profess to be Christians and really aren't and are going to look "blessed" and like they never have trials and tribulations or cursed and constantly going through trials and tribulations, but we are to look to Jesus-The Word of God as the author and finisher of our faith. First Peter 5:5-7, "For God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you."

Matthew 18:1-4, "At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto Him, and set him in the midst of them, and said, Verily, I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Whosoever shall humble himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven."

An excellent illustration of "child-like" faith is a story Brother Pittman told in his book "The Covert War (Deception)." He was a police officer serving the city of New Orleans, Louisiana that is situated at the mouth of the Mississippi River adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico. Because of its location New Orleans is prone to hurricanes and this year [1965] the city had a couple of near misses and another hurricane was in the Gulf and was predicted to strike New Orleans. Brother Pittman, as a police officer, was involved in the evacuation of the neighborhoods that Civil Defense had ordered evacuated and his neighborhood was one of the ones that were ordered to be evacuated and every family was evacuated but one, his, because he didn't think it would be too bad. He got home about six o'clock during the eye of the storm. The front part of the hurricane wasn't real bad, but was bad enough to knock out the power and telephone. They lit candles and relaxed waiting for the rest of the hurricane to pass over and about nine o'clock at night the backside of the hurricane struck. He said it sounded like a freight train had hit his house and the winds were blowing at 100 miles per hour. Trees looked like they were jumping out of the ground and housetops were flying all around. He yelled to his family that they had to get out and when he opened the front door he was greeted with three feet of water. It was too late and they had no way out, no phone and his neighborhood was certified as evacuated.

As he stood on a chair to check to see how strongly attached to his house was his roof, he felt a tug at his pants leg and he looked down into the face of his five year old son and his son said, "Daddy, are we going to die?" He got down from the chair, pushed it back, looked his son straight in the face and replied, "No son, we are not going to die, God will take care of us." His son could hear the 100-mile per hour winds, he saw the trees flying through the air and the water at the door, but he looked his daddy straight in the face and said, "In that case, I am going to bed" and with that he marched off to bed and slept through one of the worst storms to ever hit New Orleans.

A fifteen-foot river of water was pushed up the Mississippi river from the gulf and hundreds of people died that night with millions of dollars in damage. His son's "child-like" faith didn't see the storm, all he needed was his daddy's word that everything was going to be all right. To quote: "He looked at one thing only, daddy's word. Daddy's word meant more to him than all the physical evidence around him. He counted on one thing only, daddy's word. In the middle of a great storm, he was able to lie down and sleep without worry. In his mind, there was nothing to worry about. He had asked daddy and daddy had told him, all was okay. A little boy slept in peace in the midst of the great storm because he was able to act with child like faith in his daddy's word. When we learn to believe daddy's word, like a little boy did, then we too can sleep in the midst of the greatest storm. God's Word should outweigh all physical evidence to the contrary. This then should become our example of how to act upon God's Word with child like faith. In truth, Jesus said that with out this kind of child like faith, we could not enter the Kingdom of Heaven."

I have had people tell me that I needed to get in touch with reality when I have been trusting God to supply my needs, but even now as I write this I know as I do my best that God is going to supply all my needs through faith in His Word, because He calls those things that be not as though they were through Romans 4:17 as I stand on His Word. There are two kinds of reality-spiritual and physical. The Word of God is reality and reality will first manifest itself in the spiritual realm and then it will manifest itself in the physical realm. We need to know what the Word of God says about whatever situation we are in so we can speak the Word and have confidence that God will provide. Remember that Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Physical reality, what you can see, is not faith, because faith is not seen.

I have known people whose faith went up and down as they constantly watched the stock market When the stock market crashed and the banks closed in 1929 many people lost their faith in being able to survive and committed suicide. They had their faith in their bank account not God. My dad told me that his parents, my grandparents, worried themselves to death because of the very appropriately named depression. My Grandfather was a banker. Hebrews 13:8-9 says, "Jesus Christ [The Word of God] the same yesterday, and today, and forever. Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace." Hebrews 10:23 says, "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for He is faithful that promised;)" We must always remember that God is with us and calls those things that be not as though they were and when having done all, to stand on the Word of God.

I was interviewing for a job that paid a couple of dollars an hour more than I was making at the time and one of the interviewers asked me a question about something that I was very familiar with, but I couldn't think of what he was talking about and gave him some kind of answer and hoped it didn't matter. I didn't get the job. I am a child of God and know for a fact that God has gotten me jobs in the past and He has even gotten a job back for me after I quit without giving notice. He could just as easily had gotten me this job if He had wanted to, but I had a teen-age son at home and had no business working nights as this job required and God knew this and blinded my mind to the answer to the question. God calls those things that be not when we trust Him. Don't be afraid to look for a job saints, because you have the greatest employment agency in the universe on your side.

There are four stages of faith and stage one is intellectual faith, stage two is temporary faith, stage three is dead faith and stage four is real saving faith. We are going to illustrate this by using the four stages of the parable of the sower that we used earlier to trace my spiritual growth until I was born again.

I obtained intellectual faith when I was attending the Methodist church when I was a child of twelve and Mark 4:14-15, the first stage of the parable of the sower is the stage of faith I was in at that time, "The sower [the preacher or Sunday school teacher or whomever] soweth the Word. And these are they by the wayside, where the Word is sown; but when they have heard, satan cometh immediately and taketh away the Word that was sown in their hearts."

I was looking through a drawer the other day and I found my church membership manual for Methodist boys and girls dated 1952 and I couldn't find one scripture reference in the whole thing. It was all about what they believed and sure didn't mention being born again. I joined the Methodist church and I needed to join Jesus.

A Biblical illustration of intellectual faith is John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." I thank God I did learn this one thing and that was a start, but I worked with a young man once that was staking his spiritual destiny on this scripture and this scripture only, the belief that God is and that Jesus was His Son. James 2:19, "Thou believest that there is one God; Thou doest well; the devils also believe, and tremble." I saw him sometime after that and he told me that he had become a real Christian. There are whole churches that are banking on this one scripture, but it takes more than John 3:16 as we have learned. I believed in Jesus for 43 years before I was born again.

The second stage of faith is temporary faith and was the stage of the parable of the sower I was in when I walked down the aisle and was baptized at the Church of Christ when I was eighteen years old, Mark 4:16-17, "And these are they likewise which are sown on stoney ground; who, when they have heard the Word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution arise for the Word's sake, immediately they are offended." and is also the best Bible illustration for temporary faith. I behaved for a while, but had no roots, so I just sort of faded back into my old way of doing things, and like I said earlier, I wonder what would have happened if I would have been in a church that could have taken an interest in me and taught me the truth of God's Word.

The third stage of faith is dead faith and is found in the third stage of the parable of the sower, Mark 4:18-19, "And these are those that are sown among thorns; such as hear the Word, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust of other things entering in, choke the Word, and it becometh unfruitful." An excellent Biblical illustration of dead faith is Matthew 7:21-23, "Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity." This person was deceived by the devil and was genuinely surprised to find out that Jesus didn't know them. They were a tare and we will reference back to this many more times, because we must be aware of the deceitfulness of our adversary, the devil.

Second Corinthians 11:13-15, "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works."

When I walked down the aisle at the charismatic church, I bought a necklace with a cross on it and two Bibles that I never read and took notes in church and hung Jesus plaques in my house, but never changed my way of living. First Corinthians 6:9-10, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the Kingdom of God." I was on that list more than once during the next three years before I entered the next and final stage of the parable of the sower.

The fourth and final stage of faith, real saving faith, is found in the fourth stage of the parable of the sower, Mark 4:20, "And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the Word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred."  Back to First Corinthians, chapter six, verse 11, "And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."

Washed in the blood to have our sins remitted and sanctified, "hagiazo", separated from the world or our old life unto God and justified, declared not guilty all because of what Jesus did at Calvary when He shed his blood and took our sins and gave us our "Starter Kit" from God. None of this was mine or could have been mine until I repented and was born again. Repent, to feel sorry for one's sins and determine to do what is right; to feel sorry for or dissatisfied with something one has done. I determined to do things God's way and put my trust in Jesus and let God take over on October 18, 1983 and that is when I obtained real-saving faith to be born again.

An illustration of real saving faith is found in Romans 10:9-11, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on Him shall not be ashamed."

We can apply the four levels of faith to anything spiritual that we are striving to obtain through the Word of God, such as, being born again, health, finances, ministries, marriages, a spouse or marriage partner, relationships or anything you are seeking from God. It can be applied to the different stages of the armor of God, truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, the Word of God and prayer. We can obtain intellectual knowledge of a promise of God, written or spoken, and then we will begin to strive to move from temporary to dead to real saving faith. Once we recognize we are in dead or temporary faith that is when we can begin to battle and overcome, because we have endeavored to act on our faith. Acting on our faith is when we begin to wrestle not against flesh and blood but satanic powers and satan will always come to try to steal the Word out of our hearts. Having done all, stand! Faith to obtain anything in the spiritual realm is just like being born again, conception [intellectual], development [temporary and dead] and delivery [real-saving]. Delivery comes when you believe God and win the wrestling match for whatever you are seeking through His Word. We can also use the earlier parable of the wheat and tares to realize that the enemy comes and tries to plant his seed or word in our hearts to replace God’s Seed or the Word of God through non-believers.

As we put our faith into action our ultimate goal is to take the Word of God and have a productive prayer life that can change not only ourselves, but the world around us, our family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, churches and governments from local government to world-wide governments and countless other things that we battle on a daily basis. When troops of any nation are put into a situation when they are in danger for their lives that is the result of a spiritual battle that united Christianity can influence through effective and fervent united prayer. Life is a spiritual battle that can only be won by doing things God’s way and the battle will be much easier when we unite and come together.

It is much easier for me to have faith and commune with God and have an effective, fervent prayer life when I am doing those things that make for righteousness. First John 3:7, "Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous." Galatians 2:16-21, "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. 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, who loved me, and gave Himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain."

A transgressor is one that goes contrary to, a violator. When I begin to wrestle and begin to do what is contrary to my born again, dead to sin, nature I need to stop and try to figure out why and stand on the Word of God so that I will not become a violator and find myself feeling separated from God. I can have real saving faith in any area, but if I allow satan to get me to transgress back to dead faith and allow the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust of other things to enter in and choke the Word it will become unfruitful.

Psalm 78:41-42, speaking of Israel after God had brought them out of Egypt, "Yea, they turned back [In their hearts] and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. They remembered not His hand, nor the day when He delivered them from the enemy.", and we can still limit God when we transgress and go back to our old ways. One of our main goals should be not to frustrate the grace of God and if we do sin or transgress we need to have the faith that we can get back to God as quickly as we so desire and remember the mercy and grace of God and go to prayer and, if necessary, First John 1:9 and confess our sin, or what we perceive as sin, and ask God to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. First John 1:8-10, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His Word is not in us."

Sometimes what we perceive as sin is actually a battle with the devil for our faith and we will go into this in detail in the next chapter, "the fiery darts of the wicked." We are going to learn how to contend for our faith by recognizing the fiery darts of the wicked and there have been times when I have been having thoughts that were contrary to the Word of God and the Holy Spirit has reminded me to remember that "These thoughts are not your thoughts." Remember a bad thought is not sin unless we don’t take it under our control. When I find myself separated from God it is either because of unbelief or sin and a lot of people will tell you that unbelief is sin, but when we get into fiery darts of the wicked you will see where this is not always true, because it could just simply be an attack of the wicked or the "evil day" and in that day we are to stand on the Word of God. What First John 1:8-10 is talking about is known sin and we will learn that the biggest problem in the church today is recognizing sin because we see people in the world doing things and think we can. We must be aware that we are mixed together with the tares and obey the Word of God no matter what we see others doing.

First John 3:20-24, "For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment, That we should believe on the Name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as He gave us commandment. And he that keepeth His commandments dwelleth in Him, and He in him. And hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He hath given us." It is much easier for me to have confidence or faith in God’s Word when I am obeying His commandments.

Don’t let your heart condemn you just because you lose a battle. God understands our battle better than we do and there are no limitations on First John 1:9. YOU ARE FORGIVEN!!! Confess your sin and have faith that God has forgiven you and that God wants you to move on and not let the power of the past destroy your future with Him. If you see your past influencing your future bind it and cast it out in the Name of Jesus.

Mark 11:22-24, "And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. [All you need is a mustard seed] For verily I say unto you, That whoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them."

Romans 10:9-11, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus [The Word of God], and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on Him [Jesus-The Word Of God] shall not be ashamed."

Hebrews 10:19, "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus."

First John 5:14-15, "And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will He heareth us: And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him." John 14:12-14, Jesus speaking, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my Name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my Name, I will do it."

John 16:23-24, Jesus speaking, "And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my Name, He will give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my Name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full." Dear Heavenly Father, in the Name of Jesus we boldly approach your throne by the blood of Jesus. Hebrews 11:6, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." Diligently is the Greek word "ekzeteo", to search out, investigate, crave, demand, worship, enquire, seek after.

Romans 12:3, "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith." Jude 3, "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful of me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints."

We have just read that if we don't doubt in our hearts we can have what we say and that with the heart man believeth. If we are to please God we must believe that God's Word is true and that He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him. God gives us a measure of faith and then we must contend for that faith as we read our Bibles and observe things that happen around us and be ready for the battle for our faith and not doubt in our hearts. There is a big difference between doubting in your mind and doubting in your heart, but God is faithful to fulfill His promises and will always prepare us for anything He is going to give us so that satan can't steal it from us through his wiles. When we know we have prayed and asked for something that is in God's will we must learn to begin to seek a solution as to why He is not answering our prayer. If we have doubts, we must find out where these doubts are coming from and how to overcome them and how to contend for our measure of faith God has given us? Doubt your doubts but never doubt the Word of God. Hebrews 10:23, "Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)" 

Before we begin our study on fiery darts let's review faith. The Shield of Faith is found in Ephesians 6:16. Since we know by faith that our adversary is the devil we must resist him in the faith-First Peter 5:8-9. Nothing shall be impossible to us if we have faith the size of a mustard seed-Matthew 17:20. Our faith must come from the Word of God-Romans 10:17. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen-Hebrews 11:1. We walk by faith, not by what we see-Second Corinthians 5:7. God calls those things that be not as though they were when we have faith that God to perform what He promises-Romans 4:17, Acts 12:1-17, 16:19-34 and the story of Abraham and Sarah in Genesis chapters 15-21 and many, many others. God will provide, Genesis 22:1-19. Our works don’t save us-Ephesians 2:8-9. Faith without works, or action, is dead-James 2:17. We are created in Christ Jesus unto good works-Ephesians 2:10. The just live by faith, Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11 and Hebrews 10:38. The worlds were framed by the Word of God-Hebrews 11:3. Jesus-The Word Of God-is the author and finisher of our faith-Hebrews 12:2. We must keep our eyes on the Word of God and not man as the basis of our faith-Matthew 13:24-30, 37-43 and Matthew 7:21-23. We must work out our own faith so that God can do His pleasure with us-Philippians 2:12-13. We cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven without "child-like" faith-Matthew 18:1-4. We can establish our hearts with grace because Jesus-The Word of God is the same yesterday, today and forever-Hebrews 13:8-9. We hold fast the profession of our faith because we know that He is faithful that promised-Hebrews 10:23. There are four stages of faith-intellectual, temporary, dead and real saving. Anything we are striving to obtain from the spiritual realm will go through the stages of the parable of the sower and will end up in Romans 10:9-11 that tells us with the heart [not the head] man believeth. We have faith in God, speak to our mountains and not doubt in our hearts by quenching all the fiery darts of the wicked with The Word Of God and we will have what we say within the will of God-Mark 11:22-24, Romans 10:9-11, Ephesians 6:16, First John 5:14-15, John 14:12-14, John 16:23-24. God is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him-Hebrews 11:6. We are given a measure of faith and then we must contend for that faith-Romans 12:3 and Jude 3.