Faith Is the Currency of Heaven

What if there was one medium of exchange that could get anyone everything needed and desired in life?

Money is fairly well established, but it can’t buy you love, and it can't come close to saving your eternal soul. The satisfaction of a job well done or a life well lived lasts for the fleeting moments that the memory is fresh. It might get someone a cup of coffee from a stranger, but that's about it. Promises from human beings don't fare well at all-- look at what the native Americans got from European Americans, or what Gen-Xers will get out of Social Security.

What about faith?

The Bible declares that God has given everyone a measure of faith, so it is widely available. Jesus said: “be it unto you according to your faith,” “if you have faith... nothing will be impossible to you,” “whatever you ask... you will receive if you have faith,” so it is effective. The Bible tells us that we are saved by grace through faith and that we await the hope of righteousness by faith, so faith is the ultimate answer!

Faith is a vector, directional, it inherently points toward something. For faith to work it must be directed at the right thing. Lots of folks have some type of faith in something, but is it capable of getting all that is needed or wanted? Can it save the soul? Faith in Jesus Christ can.

When one believes Jesus is at the right hand of all power and authority, that everything has been given to him by the heavenly Father, that all prayers prayed in his name are heard and answered, that he is capable of doing all things, that his work on the cross as verified by the resurrection is capable of making one eternally right with God…when one believes in Jesus Christ for who he is, for what he’s done, and in what he’s said, that one has the currency of heaven and the means to everything necessary and desirable under God.

But we are, pitifully, more often than not those of little faith! Thankfully, less than a mustard seed is a sufficient measure for most purposes. So what is your mustard seed growing? Is Jesus who he says he is to you? In your mind does he have the power he claims to have? Are His words reliable according to your value system? Does he have the goods, in your estimation, or not? 

These are the distilling questions that assay faith, and their answers are of utmost importance, because faith, and faith alone, is the only currency of heaven.

Sugar-coating the Bread of Life

Sugar coating: originally a process in the food industry whereby sugar or syrup was applied in some fashion to the surface of a food product, making the product sweeter and thereby more delectable. Often used in conjunction with food that was less tasty or desirable in order to increase its consumption; e.g., the breakfast cereal industry, or as in the song in Mary Poppins.

Why would the salvation wrought by Christ need to be sugar-coated? In itself, of itself, it already promises knowing our Creator personally, living forever without disease, decay or death, and being free from doing stupid things we will rue but do regardless (among other things). Could there be a sweeter deal? Salvation is an absolute dream come true, but being a disciple of Christ comes at a cost even though it is truly free.

Salvation entails the saved acknowledging that they don't run the show and so they bow to the leadership of Jesus.

In this day where willfulness is celebrated and self is elevated, the temptation is to assume that most of the people we're trying to coax into the Kingdom of God won't buy into such an arrangement. So, repentance is soft-pedaled, sin and judgment is back-pedaled, and continuing on in life as it was with Jesus merely added is floor-pedaled. Can such a vitamin supplement approach to the gospel actually cleanse the conscience or ready the soul for a welcome in the age to come?

It's not those who call Jesus, "Lord" who are saved but those who actually do as he says.

Buying into the gospel means selling everything else we had before the gospel came into our lives and going full-bore after Jesus. Families may ostracize or desert us. Riches may have to be abandoned. Sexual pleasures will not be guaranteed to us. Just because we had a dream doesn't mean that God has that same dream for us or is bound to help us to achieve it. This the price of Jesus being Lord.

A gospel that doesn't stop us in our tracks is not going to get us on the right track.

I like toast with breakfast. As a kid, I particularly liked cinnamon toast. When mom made it, most of the sugary coating was shaken off back into the bowl. When I got my hands on it, I usually found a way to load those tasty slabs of cinnamon goodness with more sugary sweetness. If mom ever saw what I was doing she would never have stood for it, but then she cared about my health and wanted me to enjoy having teeth for the rest of my life. 

Making adjustments to the gospel makes what is adjusted no gospel at all. If we truly care for those we try to win with the gospel and want them to be whole throughout all eternity, we need to stick to the truth that sets sinners free. Coming to grips with who and what Jesus is and following him exclusively is food and drink indeed. If we want to feed the folk we preach to something that can nourish them eternally, we need to stop sugar-coating the Bread of Life, and start preaching Jesus as Lord straight up.

What's Your Story?

Never underestimate the power of your personal testimony.

I would say that our own heartfelt story of how Jesus changed our life is one of the most attractive lures in our evangelistic tackle box. I know that signs and wonders and conviction are absolutely essential too, but more fundamental to the fulfillment of our commission from Christ is our personal witness. Telling people from a first-hand perspective what Christ has done for us is the persuasive key that unlocks personal evangelism.

See this great story of the power of testimony. 

Now you may think that story is only stellar because it deals with a star. It would be hard to contend that it did not have something to do with the results, but let's not miss the point-- the proclamation of the life-changing power of the gospel by a life changed by the gospel has fantastic, alluring effects.

In just a few days, trout fishers will line every brook, trickle and drip around these parts. They won't wading through frigid water, mucking around slippery banks, and fighting their way through branch and bramble to waste their time fishing with empty hooks! They'll offer what they consider the best bait they have. Evangelizing Christians have some mighty fine bait in their personal testimony. So, why not get out there and tell your story and see if you aren't more successful in fishing for people?

Did Jesus Speak In Tongues?

Did Jesus speak in tongues? Of all people, as our supreme example, why wouldn't he if it really mattered? He did experience the Spirit coming upon him, he performed all kinds of miracles, and prophesied incredible revelation. That is astonishingly rich spiritual life, no doubt, so where are the tongues?

To our knowledge, Jesus never spoke in tongues.

We have so little insight into his personal life, it is difficult to say anything definitive about his private practices. If he did speak in tongues for his own edification, no one was there to witness it. If some one did witness it, no biblical author was ever impressed by the Holy Spirit to record it. Although if someone had witnessed him doing so, I feel fairly certain it would have been recorded in light of Acts 2.

As far as his public ministry goes, we have no recorded incidence of Jesus ever speaking in tongues. We do have incidences of him speaking in Aramaic, but that was his native language, not the supernatural occurrence of speaking in tongues. Again, in light of Acts 2, had he spoken in tongues, I feel fairly certain one of the gospel authors would have recorded it. Something so seminal in the birth of the church would have surely had a precedent in the life of Christ recorded if there was one.

Regardless, I think the real issue implied by this question is that if Jesus never did, why should we? The answer is that regardless of what Jesus' experience was in this respect, at its beginning the church unanimously spoke in tongues, and the experience was promised to all that followed. For the disciples and those selected to be Apostles by Jesus, the clear choice of God was that every one of them spoke in tongues upon their baptism in the Spirit, even though Jesus never did.

So, the particular experience of Jesus in regard to speaking in tongues is not the controlling precedent for those who follow him. Instead, it is the experience of those who first followed Jesus which is the model for Christian experience. Jesus may have not spoken in tongues, but his followers did, and so can we!

What About Those Who Don't Speak in Tongues?

Many folk at my church, and at other Pentecostal churches, have not spoken in tongues... yet. I say that because it is my desire that every one of them would. It is not something that can be forced or enforced, but I believe that each Christian who hasn't spoken in tongues... yet, would be blessed and more in line with biblical practice if he or she did.

Jude, in his brief epistle, says that we build up our faith by praying in the Spirit. The Apostle Paul said in his letter to the Romans that the Spirit is able to pray that which we can't find the words to utter. The phrase: "praying in the Spirit" is just another way to describe tongues, which are incomprehensible speech inspired by the Spirit. Clearly, the Bible highlights the benefits to the believer of praying in the Spirit, and I see no possible downside to speaking with other tongues when the scriptures testify to the upside.

Of course, what really matters is what Jesus wants for us. He told the first believers to wait until they were baptized in the Spirit before going off and trying to fulfill the Great Commission. They waited, were baptized in the Holy Spirit, spoke in tongues as a result, and then proceeded to go out and turn the world upside down. Why would anyone expect a different pattern for those who came after them? Certainly, only really bad interpretation musters 1 Corinthians 13 for that duty.

Evangelism and church planting took off globally when Pentecostals began to follow that pattern early in the last century. More has been accomplished toward fulfilling the Great Commission by tongue-speaking charismatics in the last 100 years than has been accomplished by the cessationist church for the entirety of its 17 centuries of history. Honestly, this is the definition of a no-brainer.

We need to be baptized in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. If someone hasn't received it... yet, he or she should not be treated badly or ostracized, but should merely be encouraged to continue waiting in faith. The only division this experience needs to cause within the family of God occurs when someone tries to prevent folk from speaking in tongues. That is clear disobedience to the Word and is awful, but trying to force someone to do so who doesn't... yet might be just as bad.