The Eternal God has inspired me regarding the vital need for all of us to grow in faith. Because of all of our modern distractions, and because of the breakup of our former association, many thousands of brethren around the world have been deeply hurt or confused. Many are also disillusioned—left with the feeling that Christ “deserted” them and now they do not know where to go.
As I have previously explained, Christ did raise up the Global Church of God in early 1993, through me—just a very few months after the blasphemous, “God Is…” booklet came out, along with other heretical changes in doctrine. But many were not aware of Christ raising up this Church—or had been poisoned against us by vicious rumors and accusations. So, instead of zealously searching out and proving to themselves where Christ was transferring His Work, many just stayed put or even dropped away from the Truth altogether.
But—mark this!—the living Christ did give people in early 1993 a “way out”—He did raise up a Church with a trained, dedicated ministry of long standing who preached the full Truth and who quickly—within weeks—went on the radio, published literature and began to revive the Work. So Jesus Christ did not “desert” you or anyone else. He is still the living Head of the Church. He is alert, active and POWERFULLY in charge of His Church and His Work! And in His great wisdom, He is now “testing” His people to see what is really in their hearts.
Has the splintering of God’s people been a trial? Of course it has. But God specifically reveals that He allows trials for our good and “tests” us through them. Notice these words of the Apostle Peter: “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:6–7). The Apostle James was also inspired to tell us the same thing: “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience” (James 1:2–3).
So all of us need to exercise living faith in our Head and Savior, Jesus Christ. Increasingly, we need to “see” His hand as He orchestrates world affairs to bring about the fulfillment of biblical prophecy—often in minute detail! We need to “see” His hand as He leads His Church—continuing to have at least one faithful group preaching the whole Truth, doing the Work and practicing the government of God, and so training its members in the exact kind of government we will be administering in tomorrow’s world!
Christ is ALIVE! He has not gone off and left His Church! He is not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33).
Therefore each of us needs to BELIEVE Christ! When He makes a promise in His inspired Word, we need to BELIEVE!
Jesus said, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you” (John 15:7). We do need to saturate our minds with the Word of God—to learn to think as Christ thinks. Then His Words will “abide” in us as we pray, and we will ask according to His will. For as the Apostle John also wrote, “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him” (1 John 5:14–15).
Additionally, remember Jesus’ powerful promise in Mark 11:23–24: “For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.”
Brethren, if we as a Church “feed” on these and related scriptures, then we certainly will begin to build “an atmosphere of faith” in the Living Church of God. Also, obviously, we cannot just “work up faith.” Each of us must do his or her part in fervently studying the Word, meditating on the examples of faith in the Bible and on the things we see God do even in His Church and Work today. Then, we must CRY OUT to God in heartfelt prayer and fasting that our heavenly Father would give us the “gift” of faith through His Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:7–9).
Remember, God’s Word tells us, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). Building an atmosphere of faith in God’s Church today is absolutely vital. We cannot even fully imagine the trials, tests, persecutions and difficulties which will come upon His people during the next several years. We will all need living faith in God. And to do the Work which God really wants us to do, we will have to walk with God, commune with God and wrap our minds around some of the direct statements of Jesus Christ such as John 14:11–12: “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.”
Jesus also said, “When the Son of man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8). Although the world will not have much faith, let us in God’s true Church do everything we can to strengthen our faith—individually and collectively. For, as we have seen, without faith we cannot please God—and certainly we cannot do the great Work which He wants us, as His servants, to do in these latter days.