The real truth about faith!
Genesis 22:
16) And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
17) That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
18) And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
Notice the first thing, that God did not just randomly bless Abraham but it was specifically because he withheld not his son from God. God did not just say I am going to bless thee because you believed that I exist because if that be the case, then faith could be alive without works and we know that in James 2:20 it state that “faith without works is dead”.
My people, just saying the words I believe has never cut it, nor had been enough, even from Genesis when Enoch walked with God in the ways of righteousness, that behavior he had that was so pleasing to God was generated by faith, but he did not just say I believe and then lay his life in wickedness and transgression, else would he have pleased God so much, not at all. Yes even from the beginning of history in Genesis even up till now faith without action is treating the grace of God that his Son Jesus purchased for us on the cross, becoming our high priest, our rock in a weary land, our elder brother, Our Healer, as a cheap thing of little worth. While we are not justified by works, aren’t we suppose to reach for our Lord, extend our hand, our voices out to Him in prayer, trusting in Him and His working upon us to make us upright in the way.
My people, without works our faith would wither away and die, but without God working upon us by faith, to generate these works, it is just a vain attempt on our part to try and please God ourselves and in our own way. Could any of the conquerors of faith in the bible have conquered, winning victory over obstacles, or persecutions, and over death, had God not been with them, no, but by faith the generation of works was established and took root in their lives. The question is how badly do we want to please God, how much are we willing to reach for him because we certainly cannot reach for Him if we are reaching for the things of this world also. This is just what we are warned about in 1 Corinthians 10:21) "Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.” When we try to do so we are destine to lose unless we sit completely at the Lord’s table, after all He does want our undivided love, can any other kind prosper and please the Lord, I think not. 1 Corinthians 10) “Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy?” Exodus 34:14) “For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God?: Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice”
Now in our world aren’t there so many things that one can go a whoring after, every lust of life, every vanity that distracts the mind, ever way of pride that will keep one ensnared and their heart away from God. Now whose alter would one go a whoring off to, anything that is contradicting the gospel presumptuously, when one chooses to steal the bible says Ephesians 4:28) “Let him that stole steal no more”, proverbs says “Whoso is partner with a thief hateth his own soul” (proverbs 29:24), now can’t that same principle apply to every form of presumptuous sin which is rebellion, which is equated to despising the word, Numbers 15:30) “But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.” And Numbers 15:31 says “Because he hath despised the word of the LORD”, And what does proverbs say, “Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded” (proverbs 13:13). The same message that Moses spoke of is the same that was preached by the Apostles, warning the people to flee from iniquity, to flee from sin, and to flee from the evil way which leadeth to death.
Repentance is required and that is an act of faith, generated by faith and by the conviction of the Holy Spirit in one’s heart, but in today’s world many resist the Spirit of God, that claim Christ but won’t flee from iniquity, they won’t repent, and what did the Lord say to the people of His day, which is the same thing that applies to all of us, every single person on the face of the earth, Luke 13:3) “except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish”. By faith we repent, by faith we turn to God, and by faith we submit to God and his will and working upon us. Unless these 3 happen one can’t have spiritual prosperity nor be pleasing to the Lord because God is not a favor of persons. Shall God demand and command some to turn aside from their evil ways and others not to turn aside from their evil? Romans 6:2) “God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” Any, the thing is we don’t have to, if we lean to God and his grace which is the action of our faith, then can we prosper, be fruitful, and escape from the bondage of sin, but until we give our whole heart and life over to God, we only live the half truth which is not good enough and are deceiving ourselves!
Genesis 22:
16) And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
17) That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
18) And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
Notice the first thing, that God did not just randomly bless Abraham but it was specifically because he withheld not his son from God. God did not just say I am going to bless thee because you believed that I exist because if that be the case, then faith could be alive without works and we know that in James 2:20 it state that “faith without works is dead”.
My people, just saying the words I believe has never cut it, nor had been enough, even from Genesis when Enoch walked with God in the ways of righteousness, that behavior he had that was so pleasing to God was generated by faith, but he did not just say I believe and then lay his life in wickedness and transgression, else would he have pleased God so much, not at all. Yes even from the beginning of history in Genesis even up till now faith without action is treating the grace of God that his Son Jesus purchased for us on the cross, becoming our high priest, our rock in a weary land, our elder brother, Our Healer, as a cheap thing of little worth. While we are not justified by works, aren’t we suppose to reach for our Lord, extend our hand, our voices out to Him in prayer, trusting in Him and His working upon us to make us upright in the way.
My people, without works our faith would wither away and die, but without God working upon us by faith, to generate these works, it is just a vain attempt on our part to try and please God ourselves and in our own way. Could any of the conquerors of faith in the bible have conquered, winning victory over obstacles, or persecutions, and over death, had God not been with them, no, but by faith the generation of works was established and took root in their lives. The question is how badly do we want to please God, how much are we willing to reach for him because we certainly cannot reach for Him if we are reaching for the things of this world also. This is just what we are warned about in 1 Corinthians 10:21) "Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.” When we try to do so we are destine to lose unless we sit completely at the Lord’s table, after all He does want our undivided love, can any other kind prosper and please the Lord, I think not. 1 Corinthians 10) “Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy?” Exodus 34:14) “For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God?: Lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice”
Now in our world aren’t there so many things that one can go a whoring after, every lust of life, every vanity that distracts the mind, ever way of pride that will keep one ensnared and their heart away from God. Now whose alter would one go a whoring off to, anything that is contradicting the gospel presumptuously, when one chooses to steal the bible says Ephesians 4:28) “Let him that stole steal no more”, proverbs says “Whoso is partner with a thief hateth his own soul” (proverbs 29:24), now can’t that same principle apply to every form of presumptuous sin which is rebellion, which is equated to despising the word, Numbers 15:30) “But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.” And Numbers 15:31 says “Because he hath despised the word of the LORD”, And what does proverbs say, “Whoso despiseth the word shall be destroyed: but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded” (proverbs 13:13). The same message that Moses spoke of is the same that was preached by the Apostles, warning the people to flee from iniquity, to flee from sin, and to flee from the evil way which leadeth to death.
Repentance is required and that is an act of faith, generated by faith and by the conviction of the Holy Spirit in one’s heart, but in today’s world many resist the Spirit of God, that claim Christ but won’t flee from iniquity, they won’t repent, and what did the Lord say to the people of His day, which is the same thing that applies to all of us, every single person on the face of the earth, Luke 13:3) “except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish”. By faith we repent, by faith we turn to God, and by faith we submit to God and his will and working upon us. Unless these 3 happen one can’t have spiritual prosperity nor be pleasing to the Lord because God is not a favor of persons. Shall God demand and command some to turn aside from their evil ways and others not to turn aside from their evil? Romans 6:2) “God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” Any, the thing is we don’t have to, if we lean to God and his grace which is the action of our faith, then can we prosper, be fruitful, and escape from the bondage of sin, but until we give our whole heart and life over to God, we only live the half truth which is not good enough and are deceiving ourselves!