Many will not be able to enter the Heavenly Canaan because of unbelief

By John Foll, finished writing 9/30/2017.
© Copyright 2017 John Foll

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“Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.” Hebrews 3:12-19 KJV.

So what is the cure for unbelief? Faith. Faith is the opposite of doubt or unbelief. Unbelief in what? Unbelief in the promises of God. The children of Israel had been given a promise by God that He would give them the land of Canaan and help them to possess it, if they would follow His lead. Caleb and Joshua told the children of Israel that they were well able to enter the Promised Land, that God would open the way for them and give it to them. But the 10 other unfaithful spies lied to the children of Israel about this, saying many discouraging things to them, so that they did not believe the promise of the Lord.

“Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, ‘We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.’ But the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us." So they gave out to the sons of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, ‘The land through which we have gone, in spying it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants; and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size. There also we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak are part of the Nephilim); and we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight." Numbers 13:30-33 NASB. “Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. All the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, ‘Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder; would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?’ So they said to one another, ‘Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.’ Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of all the assembly of the congregation of the sons of Israel. Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, of those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes; and they spoke to all the congregation of the sons of Israel, saying, ‘The land which we passed through to spy out is an exceedingly good land. If the LORD is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us — a land which flows with milk and honey. Only do not rebel against the LORD; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.’ But all the congregation said to stone them with stones. Then the glory of the LORD appeared in the tent of meeting to all the sons of Israel.” Numbers 14:1-10 NASB. Read the rest of this passage and beyond for this sad account; for their punishment for unbelief and rebellion against God. Unbelief and rebellion are close cousins.

Who did the children of Israel believe? Caleb and Joshua or the 10 unfaithful spies? There were two reports, a good report and a bad report. Which report do you want to hear? The good report or the bad report? What do you want to believe, the promise of God to save you and take you to the Heavenly Canaan, or the lying report that says that God is not able to save you, or that you must try to find out how to save yourself? No, those who will enter the Heavenly Canaan will enter in only by belief and faith in God’s mighty power to save; they will believe the good report of God’s love, might and power, and reject all lying reports.

What did Jesus say regarding unbelief and faith and the ability of doing the work He gave His disciples to do? (This includes His modern day disciples too, which can be you too if you want this!)

“Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, ‘Why could not we cast him out?’ And Jesus said unto them, ‘Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.’” Matthew 17:19-20 KJV.

Is there a connection between faith and the Holy Spirit? If you have a lack of faith or have unbelief you can ask God who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not (James 1:5) and He will give you all the faith you need by giving you the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” Luke 11:13 NASB. This is a most beautiful promise that Jesus and His Father want to give you. Ask for it, believe it and receive it. Dwell on the rich promises of God and of His love for you until you believe. Put away all doubt and discouragement. You may have to pray much, and keep confessing and yielding yourself to God, until you receive this for yourself.

The answer to the question ‘is there a connection between faith and the Holy Spirit’ is yes! One of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is faith. Whenever someone has great faith, it has always been given to them by the Holy Spirit, but they must choose to exercise this faith, or they will lose it. Human belief is of no value, only the faith given by God will save you, but you must choose to exercise it. That is why it is so important to get the Holy Spirit in full, who will give you much faith, hope and joy! See Galatians 5:22-23 for the list of the fruits of the Spirit that God wants to give you. So if you want to have faith, and not be shut out of Heaven because of unbelief, you must get the Holy Spirit.

Many don’t see the necessity of having the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit or don’t know that they can get this for themselves. They think that what happened in the book of Acts with the early Christians only happened in the book of Acts and that it can’t happen in our day anymore or the like. And others think that they have the Holy Spirit, when they do not have Him in full if at all. There is a change in someone’s life that is impossible to hide whenever someone receives this most precious of gifts that God wants to give all who want to be Jesus’ disciple! There is much love and a gentleness that is imparted to them by God, and they will be given the victory over their bad habits and sins (or will be gaining victory by victory, day by day – not always all at once). Many do not know of their greatest need of having the fruits of the Holy Spirit in their life in full in order to help make their calling and election sure (2 Peter 1:10), and to be happy in their love for God. This is what God wants to do for all of His people if they would seek after Him with all their heart (Jeremiah 29:13), to help them be all that they can be for Him. It is dangerous to go it alone without the aid that God wants to give you.

Those who wish to enter the Heavenly Canaan must believe in His many precious promises because they have learned to love Him and that He is to be trusted. “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” 2 Peter 1:4 KJV. “For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us. Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.” 2 Corinthians 1:20-22 NASB. Paul tells us here that God gave us the Holy Spirit in our hearts as a pledge. Pledge of what? Pledge of the many promises of God, as Paul said at the beginning of this passage.

Therefore the connection between the faith to believe the promises of God to take you to the Heavenly Canaan depends on whether you will receive the Holy Spirit fully into your heart or not, and whether you will willingly do all that God wants you to do, because the Holy Spirit is given to those who obey God. Acts 5:32. Therefore this is how you can be an overcomer and have the faith to please God and not be kept out of Heaven because of unbelief. God will make this easy for you if you will just cooperate with Him willingly. If you know that you need help in this area just pray to God, ‘Be merciful to me a sinner’, and He will help you! Amen.  Luke 18:13-14.

We are now very near the end of time. The times ahead will be very difficult. In fact, it will be impossible for anyone to make it through these times without being lost, unless they yield their heart completely to God (no one can ever save themselves, it is always by the grace of God). But God will give the needed grace and help to those who love and trust Him, like He always does, while the fearful and the doubting will be shut out forever from the gates of Heaven (shut out with all the liars, murderers, sorcerers, idolaters and the like.) – shut out because of unbelief. Therefore cast out all fear and unbelief and love God with all of your heart and mind and soul (Matthew 22:37; Deuteronomy 11:13-15), and accept His promised blessings that He wants to bless His people with. He will help all to overcome who want help and give them all the gifts that they need to serve Him with. He will help them to be successful and to be an overcomer. He will give them a heart to love Him all the way with (Ezekiel 11:19; 18:31; 36:26) and to love their neighbor as themselves with. Matthew 22:39. This is what God wants to do for His people, if they will let Him.

“He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” Revelation 21:7-8 KJV.  

Don’t be shut out of Heaven because of unbelief. God loves you and will give you all the faith you need to get rid of your unbelief, if you will accept it. Amen.

May the grace of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all!

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Lessons on Faith: Part 12 of 14: The Righteousness of God is Revealed to Faith

By A. T. Jones

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The righteousness of God is revealed to faith. Rom. 1:17.

Faith is complete dependence upon the word of God, expecting that word to do what the word itself says. Is there, then, righteousness spoken by the word of God, so that people can depend completely upon that word, that the word shall accomplish what the word says?

There is. Indeed, that is the very object of the gift of Christ. For him "God hath set forth . . . to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God." Rom. 3:25.

Seeing then that God hath set forth Christ expressly to declare, to speak, the righteousness of God, it is certain that the word of God has been spoken, upon which there can be complete dependence, expecting that word to do what that word says. In other words, there is righteousness that can be received by faith.

Wherein is this word spoken? It is spoken in the word "forgiveness." "He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins"; "there is forgiveness with thee."

Now what is the meaning of “forgive"? The word "forgive" is composed of "for" and "give," which otherwise is give for. To forgive, therefore, is simply to give for. For the Lord to forgive sin is to give for sin. But what does the Lord give for sin? He declares "his righteousness for the remission of sins."

Therefore when the Lord forgives--gives for--sin, He gives righteousness for sin. And as the only righteousness that the Lord has is his own, it follows that the only righteousness that God gives, or can give, for sin is the righteousness of God.

This is the righteousness of God as a gift. As all men have only sinned and if they are ever clear must have forgiveness entirely free, and as the forgiveness of sin -- the righteousness of God given for sin -- is entirely free -- this is the righteousness of God as a free gift "upon all men unto justification of life." Rom. 5:18.

Every soul, therefore, who ever asks God for forgiveness of sin, in that very thing asks God to give him righteousness for sin. Every soul who asks God for forgiveness asks it solely upon the word of God, which speaks forgiveness. And faith is entire dependence upon the word for what the word speaks. Thus righteousness is altogether of faith.

"Every one that asketh receiveth." You have asked the Lord many a time to forgive your sins; that is, you have asked him to give for your sin. But when you ask the Lord to give for your sin, in that you ask him to give the only thing that He does or can give for sin, which is righteousness. That is what it is to ask forgiveness of the Lord.

And He does forgive -- He does give for -- your sins when you ask Him. He says He does, and He does. "He is faithful" -- that is, He will never fail -- "and just to forgive us our sins." And the only thing He gives for sins is His righteousness.

Then why not thank Him for the righteousness that He freely gives for your sins when you ask Him to? Do you not see that righteousness by faith is just as plain and simple as the asking God for forgiveness of sin? Indeed, it is just that.

To believe that righteousness is given for your sin, when you ask forgiveness, and thankfully to receive that righteousness as the gift of God -- this is what it is to exercise faith. 

Yet how true it is that "we suffer much trouble and grief because of our unbelief and of our ignorance of how to exercise faith." 

"Hast thou faith?" Have the faith of God. "Here are they that keep . . . the faith of Jesus." 

RH Mar. 14, 1899

By A. T. Jones in the Review and Herald periodical in 1899.

Blog Edited by John Foll.

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How To Please God?

By John Foll, written 9/9/2017.
© Copyright 2017 John Foll

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“And 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 seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6 NASB.

Why is it impossible to please God without faith? Because you must believe that He is and that He rewards those who seek Him. How will He reward you? By giving you the help that you need to be faithful to Him and listen to and hear His voice. “But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving. That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is from the LORD." Jonah 2:9 NASB.

To look at this deeper, look at the verse that comes before Hebrews 11:6: “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; AND HE WAS NOT FOUND BECAUSE GOD TOOK HIM UP; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God.” Hebrews 11:5 NASB. Now how did Enoch obtain this witness that before he was taken up that he was pleasing to God? Hebrews 11:6 gives us a clue: Enoch had faith in God and sought after Him with his whole heart. But what more does the Bible say about Enoch and how Enoch could have pleased God? “And *about these also Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.’” Jude 1:14-15 NASB77. So how did Enoch please God? He warned sinners in the world that God was going to bring down His judgements on them for their sins. God is merciful and compassionate and desires that all men come to a knowledge of Him and obey Him. That is why Enoch pleased God, because he had faith in Him, sought after Him with his whole heart, and proclaimed His love to the world, warning them to repent of their ‘ungodliness’.

* See Jude 1:10-13: ‘Men who revile the things which they do not understand’ verse 10; those whom ‘the black darkness has been reserved’. Jude also talks about Sodom and Gomorrah being destroyed as well. So the phrase ‘about these’ is referring to wicked people whom God’s judgement would fall on.

What does Jesus say regarding how you can please God? He told Nicodemus: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:16-18 NASB. Jesus said that God sent His Son Jesus into the world to save it, not condemn it; so God wants you to believe in Jesus His Son. “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.” John 14:23-24 KJV. To put it all together, Jesus is saying that if anyone wants to please God, they will keep all of Jesus’ words and obey them, which were given to Him by His Father (God), since God wants everyone to believe in Jesus His Son. Jesus also promises to those that do this, that He and His Father will come dwell in their heart! This is through the presence of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth. What a precious promise! Do you want Jesus and His Father to come dwell in your heart? Then keep all of Jesus’ commandments (which are the same thing as God’s commandments, since Jesus said ‘the word ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me’).

Jesus addressed both of these passages to His *disciples. So God would be pleased if everyone would become Jesus’ disciple. “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.”  John 15:8-11 NASB. Dear reader, if you would have your joy made full, oh so full, believe what Jesus has spoken here! You can be Jesus disciple too! God would be glorified, dear reader, if you would become Jesus’ disciple and bear much fruit for Him. How do you bear much fruit for Him? By telling others of His wonderful love, so that they can be saved like you! And also by helping others in any way that God has opened up for you to do. ‘Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.’ Ecclesiastes 9:10 NASB. See also Matthew 25:31-45 for more on how you can please Jesus, by having love and compassion for others. You can only do these things that glorify Jesus and His Father if you are born again or born from above (John 3:3, 5), and have Jesus and His Father dwelling in your heart, through the presence of the Holy Spirit. And you can only have these blessings if you believe in Jesus and obey His commandments.

* Although Nicodemus, who came to Jesus by night in John 3:1-2 who was a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews, wasn’t part of Jesus’ original 12 disciples, he later became a disciple too. John 19:28-40. See also John 7:45-52 where he defended Jesus to the other rulers he was meeting with. They also implied or accused him of being Jesus’ disciple when they said ‘Art thou also of Galilee?’ John 7:52.

Jesus promised: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.” John 14:15-17 NASB. So dear reader, if you would have this promise for yourself, keep Jesus’ commandments, and He will ask His Father to give you another Helper, which is the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Truth, that He may abide with you forever! And what are Jesus’ commandments? One of them is: “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” John 13:34-35 KJV. But this is not the only commandment that Jesus gave: you are to follow everything that Jesus said to do, if you would be His disciple and have the Holy Spirit dwelling in your heart. Jesus said, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell — and great was its fall.” Matthew 7:24-27 NASB. If you would please God become Jesus’ disciple, and listen to and act on every word that Jesus said, and bear much fruit for God! This is our prayer for you! If this is your desire, study and restudy all of the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, over and over again, with much prayer to learn all that would please God, because your salvation is granted to you on the condition that you believe in Jesus His Son, and love and obey Him. John 3:16.

Paul also tells us how we can please God: we are to walk in the Spirit: “For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.” Romans 8:5-9 NASB. Dear reader, if you walk in the flesh you cannot please God and will die, but if you walk by His Spirit you will have life and peace. If you have ‘the Spirit of Christ’ dwelling in you, then you belong to Him, that is if you have received the Helper or the Spirit of Truth, which is the Holy Spirit into your heart. When this happens you will be born from above and born again and have life and peace and belong to Jesus! This is what would greatly please God!

In conclusion, how do you please God? By faith and by believing in Jesus, by obeying Him and Jesus and becoming Jesus’ disciple and bearing much fruit for God. (Everything that Jesus spoke were the words of God.)  And God would also be greatly pleased if you would seek after Him with all your heart, and warn the wicked to turn from their wicked ways and turn back to God like Enoch did, who pleased God and was taken to Heaven without seeing death. God would also be greatly pleased if you would walk in the Spirit, not in the flesh and have life and peace, having ‘the Spirit of Christ’ dwelling in your heart, so that you belong to Him. God would be pleased if you would be born again!

May the grace of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all!


For more on how to please God please see our new blog: “How to Please God” WhiteraimentEvangelismObey.blogspot.com, where we will go into the details on how you can please God, so that you can be happy and receive the Holy Spirit, since the Holy Spirit is given to all who obey God. Acts 5:32. We believe that you will be greatly blessed if you would continue to study all that would please God, and ask Him to help you to please Him in prayer.

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