Real faith or an imitation?

 READ Matthew 21-24  

I’m an idea person. Sometimes I really want the idea to happen and become convinced that it will. This can be real but often is imitation faith. Faith is just knowing something will happen. It isn’t based on wants or wishes but on the revealed will of God. One example:

Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.” This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.’ ” (Matthew 21:1–6)

The disciples did as Jesus directed them. Of course the donkey and colt were where Jesus said they would be. How did He know that? A few verses later, Jesus emphasized that what happens is known by God prior to the event:

But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” they were indignant, and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read, “ ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?” (Matthew 21:15–16)

Knowing all things is an attribute of God. He is eternal, not bound to time. He knows past, present and future all as NOW. This omniscience quality shows up in Jesus, the man who is God, and it is tied to faith.

In the morning, as he was returning to the city, he became hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once. When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?” And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. (Matthew 21:18–21)

According to Jesus, God can also give the same kind of certainty to His people through His Word when it is received by faith. Jesus showed this in many ways. He knew from Scripture that the kingdom of God would be taken from Israel and given to people who would “produce its fruits” (Matthew 21:41–45). He knew that the religious leaders of His day would not last when that happened. (Matthew 23:13–36).

Jesus also knew what would be going on in the world at the time of His return even though He did not know the day or the hour. Why not? It was because He had laid aside omniscience to be like us — totally dependent on the Holy Spirit to reveal things to Him by faith. (see Philippians 2:6–8)

He also knew that false christs and false teachers would come and lead people astray and that before He came back, certain events would happen. This understanding came to Him by revelation through faith and He passed on some of this to His followers and to us. (Matthew 24:7–31) Yet He affirmed:

But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. (Matthew 24:36–39)

And that is the bottom line of faith. I don’t know all that Jesus knows, but I do know He promised to return at an hour most people would not expect and I “must be ready” — by listening to what He says, doing what He asks, and dropping all my ideas of what should happen because I want it to happen. The future belongs to Him and is not given to me unless it comes from Him and coincides with His Word and His promises.