The ministry of John & Bron Fergusson
© JF Ministries, Auckland, New Zealand

All we receive from God is by faith in his grace

You, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Peter 1:5). We are saved by faith. We are healed by faith. We are set free by faith. We receive the gifts of the Spirit and the baptism of the Holy Spirit by faith. He is our provider, but we receive our blessings by faith. What does this mean in practice? Faith trusts that God will keep his word as promised in the Bible. Now the promises of the Old Testament are conditional upon ‘keeping God’s covenant’, a phrase that appears over 20 times in the OT, but nowhere in the New! The promises of the New Testament are conditional upon our faith. Thus all the promises of God are ‘Yes’ by faith in Christ: For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. 2 Corinthians 1:20 The promises are guaranteed [ i.e. are ‘Yes’] because of Christ, that is, because his death has paid for them, but we also need to say, ‘Amen’ in order for God to have the glory. The glory comes only when the promises are fulfilled, not when they are made. God says often that he will gain glory for himself when certain miracles take place. He makes the promise, but receives the glory when they happen. Therefore when we agree with the promises (saying, ‘Amen’) they WILL be fulfilled. Here is the process of faith: Step 1. God makes a promise Step 2. They are paid for by Jesus Step 3. We agree with them (faith) Step 4. They are fulfilled

Get involved

Unfortunately many of us are missing out step 3. We are expecting God to do it all, but he wants us involved in the process. Otherwise everyone would be saved, healed and delivered automatically, and we become God’s puppets, not his children. So faith is the buy-in to his promises. Hope prays for rain, but faith carries the umbrella. If we have faith, we have a full assurance of his promise, and behave accordingly.

Protection

Many times in Scripture, God promises to protect us: There is no sorcery against Jacob, no divination against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and of Israel, 'See what God has done!' Numbers 23:23 Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest. Proverbs 26:2 "Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm." 1 Chronicles 16:22 The whole of Psalms 91 and 121. But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. 2 Thessalonians 3:3

Action

Just as we must believe God’s provision for our salvation, so we must for our protection, as Caleb realised: Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them." Numbers 14:9. And so did Jonathan: Jonathan said to his young armour-bearer, "Come, let's go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised fellows. Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few." 1 Samuel 14:6 They were confident that the Lord would rescue them, but then had to act out their faith. In the last couple of trips to Nepal some of our team (including myself) have suffered a succession of accidents, loss, sickness or strange events that had the fingerprints of the devil on them. First of all I rejoice for two reasons, a) because he is unhappy, and that is part of our life’s work, to make the devil unhappy. But also b) because he must pay restitution, four-, or seven-fold, depending on the situation. So whatever is lost, will be returned to us many times, by faith in God’s word and his justice. However, it is not God’s plan for us to succumb to the enemy’s attacks, (he doesn’t prevent him attacking,) for he promises us the victory. But there is no victory without a battle, so we welcome the battles, but are determined to see the victories too! Furthermore, God promises that he will not allow us to be tested beyond our ability to bear, so the tougher the test, the tougher he thinks we are. So tough tests are God saying, ‘You’ve got what it takes!’ To a recovering knee patient, a 100 metre walk down the road is a great victory, but to an athlete in training for the Olympics it won’t help him much! As our faith grows in Christ, the battles we face must grow in proportion to our faith, because that is how faith grows. The more we can do, the more we must do. God has given us HIS armour to protect us. It is the shield of FAITH that extinguishes the flaming arrows of the evil one: In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Ephesians 6:16 Notice that it is US who extinguish them, using God’s shield. We must be an active partner in God’s plan of protection, and that begins by having faith in his word. Lord, you have promised to protect us. Therefore we go, expecting protection! When (not if) we are attacked, we press on, knowing that God has given us the victory in Christ. We stand on the Lord’s promises. Of course when you are being attacked, the one thing you don’t feel like doing is fighting. That is why we are a team. If one of us is wounded, the others step in, heal the wounds, and fight off the enemy! for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity. Proverbs 24:16

Our Protection is by Faith

Why do some suffer so much, and others not?

 JF Ministries
John & Bron Fergusson

All we receive from God is by faith in his

grace

You, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Peter 1:5). We are saved by faith. We are healed by faith. We are set free by faith. We receive the gifts of the Spirit and the baptism of the Holy Spirit by faith. He is our provider, but we receive our blessings by faith. What does this mean in practice? Faith trusts that God will keep his word as promised in the Bible. Now the promises of the Old Testament are conditional upon ‘keeping God’s covenant’, a phrase that appears over 20 times in the OT, but nowhere in the New! The promises of the New Testament are conditional upon our faith. Thus all the promises of God are ‘Yes’ by faith in Christ: For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God. 2 Corinthians 1:20 The promises are guaranteed [ i.e. are ‘Yes’] because of Christ, that is, because his death has paid for them, but we also need to say, ‘Amen’ in order for God to have the glory. The glory comes only when the promises are fulfilled, not when they are made. God says often that he will gain glory for himself when certain miracles take place. He makes the promise, but receives the glory when they happen. Therefore when we agree with the promises (saying, ‘Amen’) they WILL be fulfilled. Here is the process of faith: Step 1. God makes a promise Step 2. They are paid for by Jesus Step 3. We agree with them (faith) Step 4. They are fulfilled

Get involved

Unfortunately many of us are missing out step 3. We are expecting God to do it all, but he wants us involved in the process. Otherwise everyone would be saved, healed and delivered automatically, and we become God’s puppets, not his children. So faith is the buy-in to his promises. Hope prays for rain, but faith carries the umbrella. If we have faith, we have a full assurance of his promise, and behave accordingly.

Protection

Many times in Scripture, God promises to protect us: There is no sorcery against Jacob, no divination against Israel. It will now be said of Jacob and of Israel, 'See what God has done!' Numbers 23:23 Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow, an undeserved curse does not come to rest. Proverbs 26:2 "Do not touch my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm." 1 Chronicles 16:22 The whole of Psalms 91 and 121. But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. 2 Thessalonians 3:3

Action

Just as we must believe God’s provision for our salvation, so we must for our protection, as Caleb realised: Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them." Numbers 14:9. And so did Jonathan: Jonathan said to his young armour-bearer, "Come, let's go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised fellows. Perhaps the LORD will act in our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few." 1 Samuel 14:6 They were confident that the Lord would rescue them, but then had to act out their faith. In the last couple of trips to Nepal some of our team (including myself) have suffered a succession of accidents, loss, sickness or strange events that had the fingerprints of the devil on them. First of all I rejoice for two reasons, a) because he is unhappy, and that is part of our life’s work, to make the devil unhappy. But also b) because he must pay restitution, four-, or seven-fold, depending on the situation. So whatever is lost, will be returned to us many times, by faith in God’s word and his justice. However, it is not God’s plan for us to succumb to the enemy’s attacks, (he doesn’t prevent him attacking,) for he promises us the victory. But there is no victory without a battle, so we welcome the battles, but are determined to see the victories too! Furthermore, God promises that he will not allow us to be tested beyond our ability to bear, so the tougher the test, the tougher he thinks we are. So tough tests are God saying, ‘You’ve got what it takes!’ To a recovering knee patient, a 100 metre walk down the road is a great victory, but to an athlete in training for the Olympics it won’t help him much! As our faith grows in Christ, the battles we face must grow in proportion to our faith, because that is how faith grows. The more we can do, the more we must do. God has given us HIS armour to protect us. It is the shield of FAITH that extinguishes the flaming arrows of the evil one: In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Ephesians 6:16 Notice that it is US who extinguish them, using God’s shield. We must be an active partner in God’s plan of protection, and that begins by having faith in his word. Lord, you have promised to protect us. Therefore we go, expecting protection! When (not if) we are attacked, we press on, knowing that God has given us the victory in Christ. We stand on the Lord’s promises. Of course when you are being attacked, the one thing you don’t feel like doing is fighting. That is why we are a team. If one of us is wounded, the others step in, heal the wounds, and fight off the enemy! for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity. Proverbs 24:16

Our Protection is by Faith