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Faith that Lasts

26 Dec

 

OilI’ve been posting about the parable of the Ten Virgins. For the last few articles I’ve talked about the light, the oil, and the lamp.

As you can see, everything in the Word of God supports the reality that the light is our righteousness that’s seen by the world. This light, then, is produced by the union of our faith – as the oil – working itself through the lamp of our love.

Armed with this understanding, we’re now prepared to truly grasp what Christ was getting at in the Parable of the Ten Virgins.

“The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.”
Matthew 25:3-5

The problem, then, was in the amount of faith that each virgin possessed.   This is what separates the wise from the foolish. What makes a Christian wise in the last days, is that they have the faith to see it through no matter what comes their way. This is what Jesus said on more than one occasion.

“All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
Matthew 10:22

“Standing firm to the end” – this requires more faith than looking for an early escape. We need to be ready for the future as Christ described it.

We need to have faith working itself through love if we’re going to stand firm to the end. Since both of these spiritual commodities require knowledge of the Word of God, I must be careful who I allow to train me.

I want an oil supply that won’t give out in my time of need. When I’m going through the darkest times in my life is when I really need to walk in love and in faith. Then, when the world begins to see these qualities in my life, they’ll see a light burning in the darkness.

Anyone can walk in bitterness and defeat, doubting that they’ll ever make it through. It takes someone trained and walking in the Word of Truth to make it victoriously through the rough times.

That’s why it’s so important who you place yourself under, in submission to, as your pastor. The Bible is clear that the works you do (your light), are directly related to the training you received.

It was he [Christ] who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service…
Ephesians 4:11-12a

If the man of God that you place your trust in is not rightly dividing the Word of Truth, then your works will suffer. You won’t have the oil supply that you need to get you through the tough times. This is why it’s so important to know what Christ taught about His return. The last days will either be your greatest hour to shine or your darkest and most difficult failure.

Question: What does it take to increase your supply of faith?

© Nick Zaccardi 2014

 
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Posted by on December 26, 2014 in Faith, Ministry, Return of Christ, The Church

 

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How Hot is Your Love Lamp?

24 Dec

Fire DangerI’ve been talking about the parable of the Ten Virgins as told by Jesus in Matthew, chapter 21. We now understand the illustration of the light, the lamp, and the oil as our righteousness produced by our faith expressing itself through love.

There’s one more thing I want to look at before we move on. There are two verses that I believe will be the icing on the cake for this parable.

If faith and love are the oil and the lamp, then there should be a teaching in Scripture that shows the condition of these spiritual commodities in the last days. After all, Jesus said that half of the Christians’ lamps would be going out just before He returns. Let’s see if that’s a clearly taught truth that can be found in the Word apart from a parable.

We’ve already looked at the point in His ministry where Jesus taught His disciples that they must continue in prayer and never give up. He highlighted this concept by the use of a parable – the parable of the widow and the unjust judge in Luke chapter 18. As He is finishing this teaching, the Lord makes the following remark.

“And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
Luke 18:7-8

What an interesting thing for Christ to say. He asks us, when He returns, will He even find faith at all on the earth? If faith is the oil that fuels our lamps, then this is in direct line with what He’s saying in the parable of the ten virgins.

Faith, the oil, will be used up in many people’s lives. According to the Lord, many will be without faith in the last days. Don’t let this happen to you. Do what it takes to have that extra supply. I’ll tell you what this requires in a later post of this series.

What about love? How did Jesus describe the condition of love in the last days? I believe that the words that Jesus uses will surprise you, now that you understand the meaning of the light, the lamp, and the oil.

“Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
Matthew 24:12-13

Could He have made it any clearer? What a description of love in the last days, especially knowing that it’s the lamp that shines our light to the world. Notice that Jesus doesn’t say that that there will be no love in the last days.

He teaches that there will be a form of love, but that it will be cold and lifeless. There’s one thing we know about an oil lamp. When it’s lit and burning, it’s hot. The only way for our love to grow cold is for the fuel to run out.

If we allow our faith to disappear, then the fire of our lamps will go out. We’ll still have the lamp – our love – but it will be a cold and useless love. We’ll be incapable of loving someone into the Kingdom of God. Without our lamps burning, we will not be able to serve God in a way that’s pleasing to Him.

Question: How is a lack of faith and love evident in the church today?

© Nick Zaccardi 2014

 
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Posted by on December 24, 2014 in Faith, Ministry, Return of Christ, The Church

 

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The True Expression of Faith

22 Dec

lampI’ve been taking an in-depth look at the parable of the Ten Virgins of Matthew, chapter 21. In my last post we concluded that the combination of faith and love was needed to produce righteousness in our lives. Could this be what we are looking for to explain the mystery of the oil and the lamps producing light?

Today I want to look closely at these concepts, to see if they’re what Jesus is talking about. The first question we must ask ourselves is, are they both non-optional in the forming of the light of our righteousness?

First we’ll look at faith. We know, from Hebrews 11:6, that without faith it is impossible to please God. The verse doesn’t say that it’s difficult to serve God without faith. It says that no matter what you do, how much love is in your heart, or how often you go to church, it’s impossible for your works to count for anything in the kingdom of God apart from faith. Working for God absolutely requires faith.

The second commodity necessary for the light to appear is love. Without love our faith will be of no value. The clear teaching of Scripture in I Corinthians 13:2 says if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

I can have faith in God for incredible miracles and yet still not be able to please Him, if I don’t walk in love. Again, the Scripture makes it clear that love is a non-optional requirement to serve the Lord.

Knowing this, I’m now in a position to understand how faith and love work together in my life. They’re not independent. I can’t use one without the other and expect my works to be pleasing in the sight of God.

So, we can see that these two spiritual concepts pass the first test. What about the next test? How do faith and love relate to each other? Remember, the oil must work through the wick of the lamp in order to produce light.

It takes a lamp for the oil to express its true nature. Light is revealed when the oil expresses itself through the lamp. Does this parallel the scriptural description of faith and love?

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
Galatians 5:6

It’s clear from this verse that all the outward trappings that man looks at are not worth a thing in God’s estimation. If we’re to please God, then our works must be a matter of faith expressing itself through love. Just like the light of a lamp is the oil working itself through the lamp, the light of our righteous works by faith working through love.

I believe that in this parable, the lamp is our love and the oil is our faith. Both are needed to produce the kind of light that will draw men and women to Christ for salvation. Love must be the medium through which the true character of my faith is revealed. It’s only as I have my lamp burning, my faith expressing itself through my love, that my works are acceptable before God.

Question: How does your faith express itself through your love in a practical way?

© Nick Zaccardi 2014

 
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Posted by on December 22, 2014 in Faith, Return of Christ, The Church

 

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Faith + Love = Righteousness

19 Dec

Stream 2I’m posting about the parable of the Ten Virgins from Matthew 21. In my last article we saw that the light is our righteousness shining into the darkness around us.

If righteousness is our light, then what constitutes the oil and the lamp? It’s the combination of the two that brings light. The relationship between them is what’s important.

Both must be present to produce light. You could have 100 lamps, yet with no oil, there’s no light. Conversely, you could have barrels of oil, yet with no lamp to burn it, there would still be no light. It’s only the combination of lamp and oil that will produce light.

You could say that the light is the oil expressing itself through the lamp. If the light is the manifestation of our righteousness, then we need to discover what the Scripture says about the source.

First, we must see how righteousness is described in the Word of God.

The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice. He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him. He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.
Isaiah 59:15b-17

Here we see God Himself putting on the breastplate of righteousness. Most Christians don’t know that this armor was first seen in the Old Testament. It was not something that the Apostle Paul came up.

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place…
Ephesians 6:14

So we can know for a certainty that righteousness is our breastplate. This is important, because Paul also described it to the Thessalonian church.

But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.
I Thessalonians 5:8

In this verse Paul is clearly referring to our spiritual armor. He even makes mention of the helmet of salvation. But instead of assigning righteousness as the breastplate, he says that faith and love are used in that role. Paul is telling us that it’s the combination of our faith and our love working together that completes our righteousness.

I believe that the lamp and the oil represent the operation of love and faith in our spiritual walk. In my next post I’ll show how they work together in both the natural and the spiritual.

Question: How does the absence of either faith or love affect our walk with Christ?

© Nick Zaccardi 2014

 
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Posted by on December 19, 2014 in Return of Christ, The Church

 

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Why Work for God?

29 Nov

WorkThere are many believers who never enter into their calling.  Are you one of them?  Don’t miss the point of why God wants us to work for Him and with Him.

We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 1:3

Paul wrote to the Thessalonian church, commending them on their work for the Lord.  He mentions three aspects that speak volumes to us as God’s people.  We need to take these things to heart if we’re going to be productive in the Kingdom of God.

Our work is produced by faith.  The word for work means what we do for God.  It’s the task to which we’ve been assigned.

We’ve all been called to do something different in the Body of Christ.  Your personality, strengths, weaknesses, and skillsets all combine to bring about the plan God has for your life.

The key is that you must seek God to find out what you’re called to do.  That’s where faith comes into the picture.  How well do you trust God for your future?  Are you willing to give up your agenda for His?

Then, by faith, we must let the Holy Spirit train and prepare us for the work.  Too many believers want to rush ahead and get “on the job training.”  Usually they become tripped up when they run ahead of the Lord.  You need to trust God to bring about the plan He has for your life.

Our labor is prompted by love.  This word labor, in the Greek, literally means your toil that results in weariness.  It speaks of using your strength to accomplish something.

We’re willing to do this for our bosses, because they pay us cash for our strength.  The Kingdom of God has a different economy.  What we do for the Lord is based upon our love for Him, or at least it should be.

Your love for God is expressed in how much time, money and energy you’re willing to expend in His work.  There’s no way around it – there’s something that you need to do for the Lord.

Our trouble is that we want to reap without sowing.  We wait until we want to eat a salad, then go out and plant the garden.  At that point, we blame God that our “salad bowl” is empty.

If you cultivate a love for the Savior, your work for Him will be a lot easier.

Our endurance is inspired by hope.  The word endurance speaks of our ability to persevere through the completion of the work.

This is the hard part.  Once we’ve started the task, we need to keep going.  Hardships, opposition, and even the daily grind of repetition saps our will to continue.

Our attitudes often surprise me.  We’re willing to drag ourselves to our job, even though we’re sick – and our boss will pay us to stay home – just to impress our employers.  Why aren’t we so inspired to impress the King of kings?  This is the secret to walking in the abundant life.

As I focus on the hope, the expectation, held out in the Gospel, I’m able to endure through the hard times.  Then I can see the power of God released in my life.

Question: What do you find to be the hardest part of enduring in your work for God?

© Nick Zaccardi 2013

 
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Posted by on November 29, 2013 in Ministry

 

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Power and Authority – The Difference

20 Mar

SONY DSCA few months ago, I talked at length about the power of God that’s working in us.  In that discussion we saw that true power is the ability to produce change.  It should be obvious that the power of God changes everything that it touches.

At some point, we also talked about the two components of power – love and a saved mind.  In that regard, faith is the fuel that energizes our love to action.  This is the nature of the power of God working in our lives.  It should be our goal to act just the opposite of those who “have a form of godliness but deny its power.”

Over the next few posts I want to continue to look at the power of God and how it parallels natural electric power.  One of the things that we know about electricity is that it can come in two different forms.  We know them as Alternating Current (AC) and Direct Current (DC).

The fact is that both are useful.  As a matter of fact, I can use both of these forms of electricity to power my portable DVD player.

I can choose to use the DC batteries or plug the AC adapter into the wall plug.  Which is better?  Think about that and we’ll talk more about it in a later post.  You will probably be surprised at how closely the answer to this simple question relates to Christians today.

In talking about spiritual power, Jesus said the following to His disciples…

“I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.”
Luke 10:19

We need to learn that authority goes hand in hand with power.  I haven’t talked about the concept of authority yet, so we need an understanding of how it fits into the whole picture.  While power is the ability to produce change, authority is the permission to use power.  In the natural realm the Electric Company gives you the authority to use electricity in your home or you will have no power.

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
Matthew 28:18

Jesus said that He had been given permission to use all power in Heaven and on earth.  It is a blessing to know that He has given some of this power to us.  According to the Lord, our power is effective over all the power of the enemy.  Now that’s good news, that our power is greater than Satan’s kingdom.

There is no reason for me to fear, because God’s power is operating in me.

Question: How should the above knowledge affect our walk with God?

© Nick Zaccardi 2013

 
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Posted by on March 20, 2013 in Power of God

 

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Lacking Love – A Sign of the Times

07 Jan

Gas TankIn my last post I talked about the work it took to love others.  Faith is the fuel, so as we love, our faith is used up.

That’s the hindrance that we face.  We’ve noticed, the more we try to love others, the more of our spiritual reserves are used up.  Anyone in ministry can tell you about this phenomenon.  The more we minister to the needs of others, the more we need to be built up ourselves.

But, instead of more time in the Word to refuel, since faith comes by hearing the Word of God, we decide to love less.  We spend less time truly fellowshipping with other believers.  Less time going to church, prayer meetings, and other events that could possible tap into our faith-fuel reserves.  That’s the condition of many Christians these days.

There is a fallacy with this kind of thinking.  You can’t just decide not to use the car because the gas gauge goes down when you drive it.  That’s simply foolish.

We wouldn’t do that in the natural.  We’d never think of telling our boss, “I’m only coming to work one day a week because my car would use too much gas if I came to work more often.”  Yet, many believers treat God this way all the time.

Jesus warned us that this would be a sign of the last days.

“However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
Luke 18:8b

Jesus was asking if anyone would fuel up in the last days.  That’s a valid question based upon what we see taking place in the church today.

“Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
Matthew 24:12-13

Jesus warns us that in the last days the love-generators will start shutting down for lack of fuel.  Engines begin to grow cold once they’re turned off.  In the same way, love begins to grow cold without the addition of faith.

Heed the warning of the Lord.  Don’t become a victim of this age.  Keep your spiritual engine running.  Keep your tank filled with the fuel of faith.  Use it to energize your love walk so that your spiritual voltage is always high.

This is the generation when the church needs to shine the brightest.  The world is getting darker and darker.  This makes the light of the Lord that much more powerful.

Remember, it’s the power of God that draws men to Himself.  But that power is only energized in us by our faith working through love.  It’s not faith all by itself.  Stay fueled up, and keep your love flowing.

Question: How do you keep your “faith tank” filled?

© Nick Zaccardi 2013

 
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Posted by on January 7, 2013 in Faith, Power of God

 

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Why is the Love-Walk so Tough?

04 Jan

Snow HeartBefore the New Year, I was talking about the faith-love connection in my posts.  I want to continue along those lines.  Do you know why it’s so hard to walk in love sometimes?  The answer will become clear as we move forward.

If you remember, I was using the illustration of faith as the fuel and love as the generator for the power of God.  These are the two things that must be in place for us to see the blessing of God in our lives.  I want to go a little further with this concept.

One of the ways we run into problems is using the right fuel in the right device.  For instance, a candle produces light and heat.  But, I wouldn’t try to cook a steak with a candle.

Love is the key to using the power of God.  So we need to understand how it works.  This kind of love (Agape in Greek) that the Bible speaks about is not an emotion.  You have probably already heard many teachings on the subject.  It is taught that love is a decision.

That’s good as far as it goes, but love is much more than that.  To truly use the power of God, love must be a decision TO ACT.  Remember, love is the spiritual pressure, but what is also needed is a saved mind that acts in faith.  Without action there is no love and there is no power.  If I have truly decided to love you, then I will pray for you, encourage you, and bless you.

This is probably the biggest hindrance to power production in our lives.  We like holding on to the fuel to show everyone, “Look how much I have.”  We don’t want to actually use the generator.  We only want to impress people by our abundance of fuel.  What we really need is to learn the truth that faith by itself is not power.

We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
1Thessalonians 1:3

This verse gets right to the heart of the matter.  Work in this verse is the power that produces change.  This work is produced by faith operating through love.

But this verse also says that there is a labor associated with love.  This word labor in Greek means that which reduces strength.  To put it simply, the lamp burns oil to produce light.  The engine burns gasoline to move the car.  In the same way, love burns faith to produce spiritual power.

Why is it so hard to love others?  The reason is that love requires a constant supply of faith to fuel it.  Unless we’re willing to work at it, it’s easier to just ignore it.

Question: Do you notice the labor involved in loving someone?

© Nick Zaccardi 2013

 
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Posted by on January 4, 2013 in Faith, Power of God

 

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The Nature of the Faith-Love Connection

31 Dec

SpeedIn the natural world, you must always have fuel to use power.   No matter if it’s electricity, cooking, heating, or driving.  Even something as simple as a candle requires wax as a fuel.  The same is true for power in the spiritual realm.

What we commonly mean when we use the term fuel is combustible matter.  But there’s also a general definition of fuel.  According to this definition, fuel is whatever feeds or sustains any expenditure, outlay, passion, or excitement.  What, then, is the fuel for our spiritual power?

It doesn’t take much study of the Bible to realize that faith is the fuel – that which feeds and sustains our spiritual passion – for the Christian life.  Without faith it’s impossible to please God.  Without faith we would have no access to the grace of God.  Faith is the requirement for God to do anything at all in our lives.

Having the fuel is important.  But we must also know how to utilize it.  Just holding a can of gasoline doesn’t automatically make me travel 60 mph.  I need to put it in the gas tank of a working automobile.

Unfortunately, there are many in the body of Christ who haven’t learned this simple concept.  We hold on to the fuel of faith and expect the light and heat of God to start working.  When nothing happens, we conclude that the Scripture is wrong, or that maybe God doesn’t do miracles anymore.  The Bible has the answer to this dilemma.

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value.  The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
Galatians 5:6

In the above verse the word value literally means force in the Greek.  It’s not how you look on the outside that gives spiritual force, or power, to your walk.  It’s the fuel, faith, expressing itself through love.  What that verse says in the Greek is that faith must energize or activate itself through love.

If I put this in natural terms I could say that faith is the fuel and love is the generator producing the voltage needed to maintain the power of God in us.  The Bible clarifies this truth.

If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
1 Corinthians 13:2

If I have all the faith-fuel in the world, but don’t have the love-generator to use it in, I am nothing.  This is where most of the church finds itself in this generation.  We seem to be so full of faith, yet accomplishing nothing for God.

According to this verse it sounds like a love problem to me.  If we are not using our faith correctly, then there will be no manifestation of power.  I must use my faith to power my love-walk.

Question: Have you ever experienced the failure of faith without love?

© Nick Zaccardi 2012

 
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Posted by on December 31, 2012 in Faith, Power of God

 

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Spiritual Power – What Does it Take?

28 Dec

LightningIn past posts I talked about spiritual power in physical terms.  What does it take to walk in the power of God?  Scripture gives us the answers.

The following is an event that’s recorded in Luke 7:36-50.  I encourage you to take the time and read through this section of Scripture to see the truth of what I’m describing.

A Pharisee had invited Jesus over to his home for dinner.  When Jesus arrived at the house, the Pharisee neglected a few simple courtesies that were a way of life in that region of the world.

He didn’t offer Jesus a kiss, water for His feet, or oil for His hair.  This was a slight against the Lord.

During Jesus’ visit, a woman came in and did something unique.  She knelt before Him and wept, allowing her tears to fall on His feet.  Then she wiped them with her hair.  Once His feet were cleaned, she opened an alabaster bottle of expensive perfume and began to anoint His feet.

As this was going on, the Pharisee was thinking that if Jesus were really a prophet, He would know how sinful this woman was.  According to the Pharisee’s thinking, Jesus shouldn’t let her touch Him.

Jesus, knowing his thoughts, turned to the Pharisee and told him a parable about two men who had their debts forgiven.  One had a large debt, and the other a small one.

He asked the Pharisee which had more love for the one who forgave the debts.  The Pharisee answered that the one who was forgiven more, loved more.  Jesus then applied that truth to the Pharisee and the woman, much to the Pharisee’s shame.

In doing this, Jesus said some things that are very important for us to hear in regards to the flow of the power of God.

Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Luke 7:50

We see from this verse that faith brought the woman salvation and peace.  These are two results that can only be accomplished by the power of God.  It is through the salvation and peace of God that we can live above the problems found in the world system.

But there is something else that Jesus said that causes us to question if faith was the only thing involved.

“Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven – for she loved much.  But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”
Luke 7:47

According to Jesus, she had something else that released the power of God into her life.  She had much love.  This is an important concept for us to grasp.  In order to truly understand the nature of power, we must come to terms with the relationship between faith and love.  In short, we must understand the faith – love connection.

Question: Do you see the connection between faith and love?

© Nick Zaccardi 2012

 
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Posted by on December 28, 2012 in Faith, Power of God

 

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