"Fear God, Love God, Serve God": "Flawless Faith"

"For therein is the righteousness of God

revealed from faith to faith: as it is written,

the just shall live by faith."

(Romans 1:17)

The menu "special" for this hour is an abiding, enduring, never wavering, all-consuming, powerful-standing, 'Come on, satan,' and 'Make my day!' kind of "Flawless Faith."

Noah

Noah had it! Some say that it took Noah 120 years to build the Ark. Can you imagine being laughed at, ridiculed, mocked and taunted for almost 120 years? Noah's faith did not waver, because he had heard from God. When the rains came, and Noah, his family, and all the animals were in the Ark, and the plank door was shut ... it dawned on Noah that not a soul would be alive when it was over ... but "he and all in the Ark" were spared ... his faith must have soared with a sorrowful, pained, lonely thankfulness ... Almighty God made His face to shine on this stalwart obedient man and his family ... only!

Mary Magdalene

Mighty Mary Magdalene had it! She was one of Jesus' most celebrated disciples; Jesus cleansed her of seven demons. She was the most prominent in Jesus' last days; she was present at the cross after the male disciples had fled (with the exception of John the Beloved), and she was there at his burial. Mary Magdalene was the first person to see Jesus after His resurrection. Her devotion to the Lord bespoke of her thankfulness, love, and faith in Him for what He had done for her. She was forgiven much; therefore, she loved much! Evil spirits were gone ... abiding peaceful faith drove her to follow, follow, follow ...

Esther

Esther had it! She called for consecrated fasting and prayer as she contemplated going before the King "unbidden." It was a law that anyone who came before the King, not at his request, could be put to death. The Jews, her uncle Mordecai, and herself, gave themselves to severe consecration before she finally took the steps of faith to enter the courtyard before the King. Her famous words in Esther 4:16 were, "I will go to the King even though it is against the law. And, if I perish, I perish." Faith towers over the claws of death. Faith endures to the end; faith stands in the face of death and persecution ... Faith ...

Four in the Fiery Furnace

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had it! They refused to bow to the image set up by the King, Nebuchadnezzar, so he ordered them bound up and cast into a furnace heated seven times hotter than it was normally heated. The fire was so hot that it slayed the men who tossed them into the fire. Then, King Nebuchadnezzar mocked the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and insinuated that he was more powerful than the God they served.

Listen to the three Hebrews' voice of faith before they were cast into the fiery furnace, "..Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O King. But, if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." (Daniel 3:17-18) The King threw the three into the furnace; then astonished, he asked his counselors, "Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?" They answered, "True, O King." He answered and said, "Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God." The faith-walking Hebrews walked out of the furnace, with not a hair of their heads burned, and they did not even smell of smoke. Nebuchadnezzar said, "Blessed Be the God of Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego..."

The Lord Jesus Christ walks with us in the fires, carries us in the storms, whispers to us in the terrors of night, holds us when we have no strength to go on, but through it all; our Faith in Him "brings" His presence, His peace, His abiding love, His way of escape ...

All through the Bible, and throughout our own lives, people had it and have it! What? FAITH! We see people who are mighty holy monuments of faith. Mighty and powerful Christians all over the world have endured prison, torture, loss of family and Church, for the cause of Jesus Christ, yet they Stand; they persevere; they have not turned their backs on Almighty God. When we know in whom we have believed, persecution only makes us stronger; and dear Christians, it's not over until the golden trumpet sounds. We must hone our belief to a sharp glistening point!

This is what "Flawless Faith" looks like!