The Remnant’s faith is real!
Posted by appolus on August 6, 2009
Faith is of two kinds: nominal and real. The nominal faith is the faith that accepts what it is told and can quote text after text to prove it. It’s amazing how nominal faith and nominal belief can weave these texts into garments, cloaks and curtains for the Church.
Tozer writes…
Faith is of two kinds:nominal and real. The nominal faith is the faith that accepts what it is told and can quote text after text to prove it. It’s amazing how nominal faith and nominal belief can weave these texts into garments, cloaks and curtains for the Church.
But there is another kind of faith; it is faith that depends upon the character of God. You will remember that the Scriptures does not say “Abraham believed the text and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” It says “Abraham believed God.” (Romans 4:3) It was not what Abraham believed, it was who Abraham believed, that counted. Abraham believed God, and the man of true faith believes God and his faith rests on the character of God. The man who has real faith rather than nominal faith has found a right answer to the question, “what is God like?” There is no question more important. The man of true faith has found an answer to that question by revelation and illumination.
The difficulty with the Church now-even the Bible believing Church-is that we stop with revelation. But revelation is not enough. Revelation is God’s given Word. Its an objective thing, not subjective; it’s external, not internal. It is God’s revelation of truth. A man may believe that and believe that soundly and hold to it to be truth. And yet he will have only an objective revelation of truth that has been objectively revealed. Tozer,A.W The Attributes of God,p 18
Tozer is correct of course. Its why the current state of the church, under its present leadership in all it’s many forms, is getting ready to be swept away. Objective faith is no faith at all. Its not the externals that make and change a man, it’s the internals. The true man of God is a new creature in Christ, this is not an objective truth, its an internal reality that grows from the inside out. The man who has only objective truth has no illumination and applies his own wisdom to the revelation of God’s word and then applies it to his life, trying to change his life from the outside in. It always fails, it cannot work. It ends in total failure or it ends in self-righteousness which is total failure cleaned up and made presentable, even beautiful.
The religious man worships the Word of God, the man of true faith worships Jesus. The religious man will be an angry man, but mostly he will be a fearful man. He will be fearful of the world. He will despise the world. He will think himself and others of like-mind, better than the world. His fears will spill over into many different aspects. He will fight feverishly in the political realm to preserve his way of life, but mostly he will be fighting out of fear of an ever encroaching world. The man who worships Jesus will love the world. The man whose Father is God will love the world. He will abandon his rights in favor of sacrifice. He will forgive and have mercy on a dying world that is destined for hell. He will love the world for “God so loved the world.” He will know that God loved the world when it was yet in its sin. He will cry out “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do,” even if they are being persecuted and killed all the day long by that very world.
You see, a man can have many things, he can have knowledge, wisdom, he can be used to perform miracles, he can do all manner of charitable works and he can even give his life as a martyr for the cause of Christ, yet if he does not have love then he has nothing. How clever is the deceit of the religious man? It is so clever that the one deceived barely knows that he is deceived. This “nominal faith,” that Tozer speaks of is the predominant faith of the day. The nominalists run most of the church’s, they are the deacons and the elders and they are the Christian leaders of the day. The last few generations of Christianity have been dominated by these of “nominal faith.” Almost every leader that we would know today, that have the national and international spot-light, are of the “nominal faith.”
A nominal faith has no spiritual power to transform. The nominal faith works on the outside, it is external and can only be so. Those with a real faith have an internal witness. They “know.” They “know,” by illumination as well as revelation. Revelation is the word of God, illumination is the opening up of the Word by the Holy Spirit. The Remnant have this internal witness. They love the Word of God because it is the diary of someone they “know,” and love. They devour the Word of God not because they worship the written word, but because they worship the living God. Those of the nominal faith know in their hearts that they do not “have,” what these others do. It does not sit well with them. They instinctively do not like them. They are irritated by them. It is the Saul and David relationship. David was a constant reminder to Saul of what he did not have. You see, you can have the whole world, a kingdom of your own, and yet if you do not have God then you do not have anything.
A Call To The Remnant 
cindyinsd said
I’m glad I took the time to read this post this morning, Frank. It explains so much to me. I’m going to have to come back and go over it again later when I have more time, but it really rings true to my heart. You have hit on it, I think (or rather the Spirit has illumined this through you, to me). Thanks!
Posts about Holy Spirit as of August 6, 2009 | PRAYtheREVOLUTION said
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appolus said
Hi Cindy,I am glad that this spoke to you. I think that the confusion for Christians all over the world, the smokescreen, is beginning to clear and they can see that the Lord has and is bringing them through a desert…………Frank
DB Williams said
It’s what we refer to as the word becoming our flesh, or reality. It isn’t a mental ascension that we come to as we see and experience the Christ, it is a resonating of our heart and mind with the Lord’s: as the Spirit brings back to mind scripture after scripture that explains, at that very instance, what is happening.
This is difficult to make clear, in person, and especially on line, but Christ IS THE WAY, He IS THE TRUTH, and HE IS OUR LIFE:
“To live is Christ, and to die is gain,” as Paul said.
This is the verse that the Lord used to drag me to Himself, almost 24 years ago. And it has only been within the last decade that this wonderful verse has become life to me, His flesh to me, His reality to me! I don’t quote this verse, I experience it in my life! For surely I have no other reason to live, but my Lord!
Thank you, for this wonderful post!
DB
appolus said
Amen brother………….Frank
timbob said
Good afternoon. You have made some very notable observations in this posting and it causes one to wonder just how much of what we see today is objective faith. I have seen folks who almost appear to worship the bible over its author. (Wow; that sounds really weird when typing it out) In other words, there are folks who will take particular verses and quote them; almost as some kind of antidote as opposed to just believing God.
Also while reading this I Corinthians 13 came to mind because of the truths contained therein. A true test of whether one is truly godly or just parading is their love for the lost. When folks climb into their structure, gather with their favorite cliche inside of that structure, perform a few “good works” to satisfy their conscience, and forget the unfolding tragedy all around them, there’s not a lot of love for the lost present. I have folks in my own household who are not saved. This weighs on my heart more than words can express. If one of them is gone tomorrow, I honestly don’t know how I would be able to handle it.
Something came to mind when I read the paragraph where “Abraham believed God” was mentioned. It comes from a writing by Richard Wurmbrand which can be read at the following link:
http://theagetocome.wordpress.com/2008/02/10/preparing-for-the-underground-church/
After being released from prison and returning to the ranks of the churchgoing saints, people would ask him questions like “Which bible verse got you through the ordeal of being in prison?” His reply was “none of them.” They were completely missing the point. It wasn’t a particular verse; it was “knowing Jesus and having a close relationship with him. This statement has stayed in my memory ever since Peter first posted this writing and has been the subject of much pondering.
Richard also stated words to the effect that “God is truth. The bible is the truth about the truth. Preaching is (or at least should be) truth about the truth about the truth.” Our faith has to go beyond mere words on a paper to the point that, like Abraham and so many other saints in history, “we believe God.”
I don’t know how much of this is making sense because the thoughts on my heart are difficult to place into words. I’ve just printed a copy of this post for reading more closely at work tonight. Thanks for continuing to bring forth writings which contain such important truths.
Blessings always in Jesus name.
timbob
appolus said
HI Brother Timbob, one of my favorite brothers although we have never met. My heart always witnesses with your thoughts brother. Its danderous territory to speaking of the things of which you speak 🙂 There is a cult that worships the Word of God. I would say that they would be the upper classes of the legalizers and religious people. I cannot give any ground on this. I worship Jesus, the second person of the Godhead because it has pleased the Father that we should see the fullness of the Godhead when we gaze upon Him. And on the other side there are people who are not legalists but people who flagrantly disregard the commands of God but use His Word as a book of incantations, somehow by repeating certain parts they can conjure our God up and have Him at their command as if He were some Genie in a bottle, the Word of Faith movement would be a good example. The Word of God to me is HIs diary, and oh what a priveledege to know the inner workings of the lover of my soul. It gives me depths and insights and directions and it is like , of course, a lamp unto my feet. Yet, it is the person of Jesus that walked into my violent house so many years ago and rocked our world. That same Jesus would walk into my heart 18 years ago and rock my world and change me and give me a heart that could love and live and live all the more abunda ntly, replacing my hard heart of stone. None of that took place in the relm of theory, it was all real. Its a real God that whispers to my heart through a real Holy Spirit. I can stand upon HIs promises made to me in His word because I know HIm and He dwells within me. I can contemplate the sermon on the mount and know that in the flesh and in some head knowledge that those commands would be impossible to keep, but by His power and His reality I can do what He has called me to do. I can love the unloveable because I was the unloveabale and He first loved me, yes, even in the depths of my rotton sin.
I feel your heart for your loved ones brother. We both have similar situations as you know. Yet, brother, I have to say that as painful as it would be to see my wife die and go to hell, It is more painful, at the depths of my heart, to have a wife who spits in the face of the almighty. She does that because she will not come to Him. This is not something I have said to her, but it is the reality of all who reject the Lord. It is ultimately a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Almighty God. Brother, all that to say that you would handle it. Not because it would be an easy thing to bear, but becuause it is not yours to bear. The cross of Calvary was Jesus’s alone. We each have our own cross to bear, and we cannot bear one anothers, but we can be yoked to Jesus and we can find rest for weary souls. Our family members are in the hand of God and there they must remain. It is HIs work brother, it is His work. The enemy will have a field day with the mind if we allow ourselves to take this onboard. Be blessed brother, walk as close to HIm as you know how and let HIm be about His work………your brother in Christ……………Frank
The Remnants Reformation « Scottish Warriors For Christ said
[…] A Malachi Word to the Remnant God will strike His Remnant people The Gathering Storm The Remnants Faith is real Behold the Lamb- A word to Gods Remnant people Jehovah rides on a swift […]
appolus said
Reblogged this on Scottish Warriors For Christ.
Cecilie said
Have to return to read more later, just went quickly through it now. A timely reminder.
I have been thinking and praying a lot on one particular issue lately, and some of the shorter pieces I’ve felt led to write is about knowing God. That too many just know about him, but they don’t really know him personally. God is calling his people to return home where they belong and should be, to “go out of her” and back into his presence.
May God fill your heart and day with love and peace, strength and joy!
Take good care precious brother, you are a faithful servant.
Blessings and prayers
YSIC Cecilie
appolus said
Hi Cecilie, many men know about God, few know Him. The difference between the two is life and death, here and the world to come…….bro Frank
David said
I hope the Lord is smiling upon you all, and filling you with His love. As you know, the time is now short, and the day is far spent.
Time’s up!
Soon a great calamity is going to strike the Earth and there will be no remedy for humanity except to turn to God or to die in their sins. The Lord Jesus is not only going to destroy the rebellion of angels, but among the lost of humanity too; He is going to destroy them among His House that are NOT His also.
…it starts here:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+24%3A19-21&version=NKJV
which is the same event as:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Rev%2012:7-10&version=NKJV
…they will be thrown down to the earth which will become a prison for them as per:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Rev%2018:2&version=NKJV
Babylon in that passage is the rule and dominion of man (the rulers of the earth), which will also be overthrown in the same event when devils take over dominion from them, until they are overthrown at Armageddon.
The discussion of these things must not be avoided, glossed over, and swept under the rug.
There is a remnant, whom God is calling out into the wilderness, whom He has chosen and set apart for this time that is before us. There will be a great falling away from God, of all of humanity (Adam’s race) which includes some of the fractured parts of that which is also known as the church.
…there will be so much going on during this time, including a great revival (in which the remnant will rise unfettered from satanic interference, because the accuser of the brethren will have been thrown down.)