A world without faith

A WORLD WITHOUT FAITH

Without faith it is impossible to please God. That is a fact. There is no way, it is utterly impossible to please Him without faith. You can’t bribe Him, you can’t coax Him and you absolutely cannot coerce Him, though some have tried and failed. Some folks have tried to please him on their own merits, like a kind of resume to offer to him. “I have worked for such and such organization, as though our good deeds merited us favor with God. Perhaps someone may be heavily involved with humanitarian aid groups or even involved in missions or the church in worship leading and all this is good, but it don’t impress God not even a little bit. You can do all that and still not have faith. Hebrews 11:6 states it thus, “But 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 diligently seek Him.”
You see in the previous verse the writer had just given an example of a guy by the name of Enoch of whom it was said that he pleased God. Let me share the verse with you, verse 5. “By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and he was not found because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. And James says, “let him ask in faith” Now James is talking about asking God for wisdom and it is in that context that he says “let him ask in faith, nothing doubting.” Do you think it is any different if you ask for healing for example or for the infilling of God’s Holy Spirit? No, because he brings it all in to context in verse 17 of James chapter 1 when he says that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness or shadow of turning.” Surely we would not ask God for something that is not good and perfect, would we?
We live in a world without faith, a world that is cynical, logical, where seeing is believing, instead of the other way around. Jesus said that if we had faith as a grain of mustard seed that we could say unto a mountain, “be removed and cast into the sea” And it shall be done! “Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees and looks to God alone, laughs at impossibilities’ and cries it shall be done”
Remember Bill Clinton when he was called before the impeachment tribunal? When asked to explain his actions, one of his statements went something like this: “it depends on what the meaning of the word is, is.” This coming from the President of the United States. The writer to the Hebrews knew what the meaning of the word is, is, when he said “he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”…God is always present tense Is, means present tense.
It is noteworthy to read Genesis 5:24. “And Enoch walked with God; and he was not for God took him” and as we read in Hebrews 11:5, he pleased God. It is more than a one time event, faith is, it is a daily walk with God, a lifestyle if you will, it is a walk of faith…every day.
You can walk in a world without faith if you want to, but I choose to walk in faith that is centered in a Person, that being God Almighty embodied in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is what this epistle is all about. Faith that is active, faith that works.