“BUT WITHOUT FAITH IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE
HIM: FOR HE THAT COMETH TO God must believe that he is, and that he is a
rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6)
The Bible unequivocally states that “without
faith it is impossible to please him (God).” It didn’t say “without love” or
“without prayer” or “without righteousness.” I’m not saying these aren’t
important, for the Word of God lets us know they all are. What I’m saying is,
it’ll take faith to activate and appropriate these and many more blessings that
are in the Word of God to your life.
Some have tried religiously all their lives to be
holy, to walk in love or to pray, yet they couldn’t please God because they
haven’t learnt to walk by faith. It’s impossible to walk in any of these
successful without faith. You’re not expected to pray yourself into faith. How
else would you be able to pray to the God you don’t see? How do you know He’s
really up there listening to you? It’s got to be by faith! So, you see, you do
have faith. But now you have to learn how to make it work.
“For I say, through the grace given unto me, to
every man that is among you, not to think of
himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly,
according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” (Romans 12:3)
You believe the Bible is the Word of God and you
study it, but you weren’t there when it was written. You simply have faith that
it’s really God’s Word. That’s where it all begins. Faith is fundamental; it’s
the foundation for without faith you can’t even be born again. It takes faith
to come to God;
“…for he that cometh to God must believe that he
is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6)
Hebrew 11:2 lets us know that by faith the elders
obtained a good report. This is referring to men who have gone before us as
examples, the patriarchs of faith such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Samuel,
David, Elijah and Elisha. The contemporary
English Version says, “It was their faith that made our ancestors pleasing
to God” (Hebrew 11:2)
Hebrews 11 is popularly referred to as faith’s
hall of fame. It’s a rich, inspiring and challenging catalogue of men and women
who had fantastic testimonies of how they pleased God and did exploits in their
generations because they walked by faith. They obtained a good report from God.
He scored them highly for their faith, but the things they did and said,
Hallelujah!
The
Example Of Noah
The Bible specifically exemplifies Noah as a man
greatly blessed of God because he walked by faith in a generation that didn’t
acknowledge God. By his unwavering faith in God, he condemned the sinful world
he dwelt in at the time.
One day, God looked upon the earth and was
appalled at what He saw. The Bible says,
“…GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his
heart was only evil continually. And it
repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his
heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face
of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the
air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the
eyes of the LORD.” (Genesis 6:5-8)
God was ready to destroy the whole earth along
with every last man and beast in it, but one man, Noah, found God’s grace,
because he was a man of faith. God told Noah He was going to destroy the world
and gave him specific instructions on how to build an ark and select pairs of
animals that will be preserved from the deluge. Being a man of faith, Noah followed
all of God’s instructions to the letter. No wonder the Bible says in Hebrew 11:7 that he:
“…being warned of God of things not seen as yet,
moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he
condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.”
