According to the Word of God
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September 24, 2023 |
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 “By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should 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. 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. By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.” (Hebrews 11:4-7)
It is only by faith for what cannot be hoped for in our daily lives to become a reality in the Lord. But we cannot see God’s works just saying “I believe”, but we must show the evidence that our confession of faith is true. This process is deemed to act upon the words of God.
In the race of faith, the start line is often referred to as ‘to hope for something with faith’ and the finish line, ‘to obtain its reality’, and the believers must follow the right track that is referred to the Word of God. In brief, when we follow the right way according to God’s words, we can receive answers as the result of our faith.
Many fathers of faith followed the path of truth according to His words and received answers by faith, among whom Abel, Enoch, and Noah were recognized by God. What kind of figure were they?
1. Biblical figures were recognized by God through faith
1) ‘Abel’ was deemed righteous before God
Genesis 4 tells us that Adam and Eve failed to keep the Word of God in mind and disobeyed it, and then were driven out of the Garden of Eden and gave birth to children on earth. One of the children was Abel. Adam, on earth, realized the law of the spiritual realm, which reads, “The wages of sin is death” so thoroughly that he attentively taught his children to live by God’s words (Romans 6:23). In particular, he emphasized they should slaughter an animal and offer sacrifice with its blood for the forgiveness of sin (Hebrews 9:22).
By the way, Abel’s older brother Cain did not obey the law of sacrifice with blood but offered sacrifices of the produce of the land, that is, crops, according to his own thought. Abel obeyed the will of God and offered blood sacrifice, that is, a sacrifice of the firstborn lamb and its fat. God did not accept Cain and his offering, while He accepted Abel and his offering. Cain became jealous of his younger brother Abel and resulted in killing him.
Hebrews 11:4 says, “By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.”
Since Jesus shed His blood for our sins and became sin offering on our behalf through the love of the cross, we no longer have to sacrifice animals for sin offering. The sacrifices in Old Testament times are compared to worship services in New Testament times that are offered to God according to His will (Romans 12:1; John 4:24).
Today many believers in the Lord attend worship services but God does not accept some of them like Cain. That is because they offer worship as they see fit.
They pray or praise in the service only with their lips, but not with heart. They get involved in idle thoughts or fall into drowsiness while hearing sermons. They do not give tithes and offerings or they just do within their knowledge but not by God’s will (Malachi 3:8). They do not keep the Lord’s Day wholly, but simply attend Sunday morning or evening service due to their busy schedules. God is spirit and we must worship Him in spirit and truth. When we worship Him in our own way, not in His way like Cain, God does not accept.
People do not obey the Word of God for many reasons. Some of them disobey because they are afraid that they will suffer losses after practicing it. However, it is not loss in the least to live by the Word, but rather a wise way to God’s blessings (Deuteronomy 28).
2) ‘Enoch’ pleased God
Genesis 5 tells us that Enoch was so blameless and perfect that God walked with him for 300 years and after that was taken up alive. How could he be lifted up alive without seeing death? Hebrews 11:5 says, “By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should 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.”
It was not since his birth that Enoch walked with God. He walked with God for 300 years and was lifted up at 365. It means for 65 years since birth he had diligently forsook his sins and accomplished God’s heart according to His words. God did not walk with him until he abandoned all forms of evil and filled his heart with truth, goodness, light, and love. He had deep fellowship with God like a friend and looked so much adorable to God that God took him up to heaven alive to draw him close.
Some believers say, “How can a person act upon God’s words completely and throw away all sins?” However, it is the will of God to get rid of all sin and become sanctified, blameless, and perfect as an imitator of God (1 Peter 1:15; Matthew 5:48). If we truly love God, we can act upon God’s words (John 14:21). It is not until we act upon His words that we can ontain the witness that we are pleasing to God.
3) ‘Noah’ became an heir of righteousness through faith
It happened 1,500 years after Adam and Eve were driven out of the Graden of Eden and began going through human cultivation on this earth. Evil was rampant and the world was full of sin. God was sorry that He had made man and was grieved in His heart. He finally decided to judge with flood and let Noah know it in advance. This is because he was not stained with the world but had a reverent fear of God in that perverted generation.
Genesis 6 shows that Noah walked with God as a righteous man and a perfect man in his time. God planned to judge the world full of sin and to choose Noah to make it anew. God judged the world with flood, but left Noah and his family behind so that they would multiply and populate the earth abundantly through their descendants. He ordered Noah to build a huge ark to preserve his family and all living creatures, male and female.
The process of building the ark was not easy. While building it, Noah shouted again and again and told people to repent and prepare for judgment. But they still sinned and laughed at Noah saying why he was building such a large ark though it didn’t rain. They had already crossed the threshold of judgment, but the God of love gave them seven more days for repentance and hoped they would not reach judgement. However, there was no one who repented and all died in the judgment of flood. Only Noah and his family were saved because they acted by God’s words with no doubt until the end (Genesis 7:23).
Persecution and difficulties may come upon those who live by God’s words. Some of them try to overcome them at first, but give up in the middle and compromise with the world in worse situations or in front of greater difficulties than expected. Still others are defeated by persecutions and leave God. Some others, in the encounter with disadvantage, lose the fullness of the Holy Spirit, cease praying, or neglect their God-given duties. They fail to believe and act upon the Word of God to the end.
Even today, God is looking for those who can overcome any kind of persecution and mockery and persistently act upon His Word like Noah. Only such people will be deemed by God to have true faith and guided to the path of blessing.
Any problem you may encounter can be solved when applied to the formula of God’s Word. The solution of problem is seen only to those who act upon the Word of God.
2. How to possess the faith to act upon the Word of God completely
1) We must destroy all thoughts and theories that cause us to doubt God’s Word
Such knowledge, theories, and thoughts that make us doubt God’s Word will prevent us from having faith no matter how clear evidences prove the authenticity of God’s Word. Those who have hardened values and theories may have greater difficulty in accepting God’s Word. This is because they too much think they are right.
Not until we demolish all those theories and thoughts could we open the door of thoughts, and further open our heart and accept the Word of God. For it we must throw away all forms of evil in our heart. If we have evils in heart such as arrogance, pride, stubbornness, and lies, it is more difficult to break our thoughts and theories, and those evils are mingled with our theories and thoughts, resulting in hindering us from believing in God’s Word.
Therefore, whenever we find our thoughts are different from His Word, we have to examine whether our thoughts are correct and diligently make them obedient to the Word, and store good works. Only then will God give us the grace to believe.
2) We must diligently read, listen to, and learn God’s Word
The Word of God is the life-giving bread to our soul. It contains the instructions telling us how children of God should live. As recorded in Romans 10:17, ‘faith comes from hearing’ and we must diligently listen to the Word of God and make our bread of it. Then, we will be able to discern whether truth or untruth and obey God’s will through the Word stored within us.
When necessary, the Holy Spirit enlightens us through the Word and helps us obey. Therefore, when we make our spiritual bread of God’s Word, we can prosper in all things and enjoy God’s blessings (Isaiah 1:19).
3) We must act upon and obey the Word of God
No matter how much we have heard the Word of God and store it as knowledge, it is of no use if we do not act upon it. True faith comes from hearing and acting upon it (James 2:22, 26).
When we do whatever it tells us to, do not whatever not to, keep whatever to, and throw away whatever it tells us to, we will not use our own thoughts but obey the Word completely in any situation; then we can be deemed to have true faith by God.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
I pray in the name of the Lord that you will have the faith to obey the Word completely and please God so that you will receive whatever you ask for by faith and walk with God.
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