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calling Preacher Endof
by zone Tue Feb 01, 2011 5:10 pm
endof, i'm glad you're here.
preach!
love zone.
preach!
love zone.
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Re: calling Preacher Endof
by strangelove Tue Feb 01, 2011 5:44 pm
zone wrote:endof, i'm glad you're here.
preach!
love zone.
Ya I need someone to keep me chewing on the Word.
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Re: calling Preacher Endof
by endofallfears Wed Feb 02, 2011 10:12 pm
Faith, in it’s simplest form, is “knowing the will of God, and doing it”.
As we are told, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Ro 10:17) God speaks, we hear obediently. It is the combination of the two that constitutes faith.
When we read the “Heroes of Faith” in Hebrews, the verse says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1). While this is indeed true, this is a more narrow definition of faith when applied to the situation of the fathers in the Old Testament.
The author was answering a specific question (the question in implied and not openly stated), “If salvation is only through Christ, how would those who died before Christ be saved?”
While the answer to this question can be found at the end of the chapter, and would be better taken as a separate study, we can look at the specific examples given about each “Hero of Faith.”
“By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain” (Heb 11:4a) It’s important to understand that when you read the story in the Old Testament, the offering of the sacrifice was not guesswork by Cain and Abel. They didn’t simply offer “something” and hope it was acceptable. God is just, and he answers Cain,
So the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it." (Gen 4:6-7)
Cain and Abel could not have done well if they did not know in advance which sacrifice would be acceptable to God. We do not know how they knew, whether it was knowledge gained through their father, Adam, or if the Lord spoke to them directly, but of Abel we are told, “through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.” (Heb 11:4b)
“By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, "and was not found, because God had taken him"; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. (Heb 11:5) Was it through guess work that Enoch was able to obtain this testimony of pleasing God. Without benefit of Scripture to guide him, and only through the memories of his forefathers, this alone could not have gained him such a special place. I believe we can assume Enoch listened to God, and God spoke of the things that would please Him.
Look to the following verse.
“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.” (Heb 11:6)
If we seek to please God, it must be done through faith. We believe in Him, we diligently seek Him, and He in turn rewards. What are we diligently seeking? His word spoken to us! How else can we please Him unless He tells us how we can please Him. We are told, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;” (Heb 1:1-2)
God still speaks to us in various ways, the inspired written word, the words of a loving brother or sister, a lingering thought, even an audible voice if He so chooses; but all these proceed to us from the Son, through the person of the Holy Ghost, into the diligently seeking and hearing ears of….well….US!
Read every examples of the “Heroes of Faith”, and see the common thread. "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." God told them what to do, and they did it. That’s Faith!
As we are told, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Ro 10:17) God speaks, we hear obediently. It is the combination of the two that constitutes faith.
When we read the “Heroes of Faith” in Hebrews, the verse says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1). While this is indeed true, this is a more narrow definition of faith when applied to the situation of the fathers in the Old Testament.
The author was answering a specific question (the question in implied and not openly stated), “If salvation is only through Christ, how would those who died before Christ be saved?”
While the answer to this question can be found at the end of the chapter, and would be better taken as a separate study, we can look at the specific examples given about each “Hero of Faith.”
“By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain” (Heb 11:4a) It’s important to understand that when you read the story in the Old Testament, the offering of the sacrifice was not guesswork by Cain and Abel. They didn’t simply offer “something” and hope it was acceptable. God is just, and he answers Cain,
So the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it." (Gen 4:6-7)
Cain and Abel could not have done well if they did not know in advance which sacrifice would be acceptable to God. We do not know how they knew, whether it was knowledge gained through their father, Adam, or if the Lord spoke to them directly, but of Abel we are told, “through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.” (Heb 11:4b)
“By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, "and was not found, because God had taken him"; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. (Heb 11:5) Was it through guess work that Enoch was able to obtain this testimony of pleasing God. Without benefit of Scripture to guide him, and only through the memories of his forefathers, this alone could not have gained him such a special place. I believe we can assume Enoch listened to God, and God spoke of the things that would please Him.
Look to the following verse.
“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.” (Heb 11:6)
If we seek to please God, it must be done through faith. We believe in Him, we diligently seek Him, and He in turn rewards. What are we diligently seeking? His word spoken to us! How else can we please Him unless He tells us how we can please Him. We are told, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;” (Heb 1:1-2)
God still speaks to us in various ways, the inspired written word, the words of a loving brother or sister, a lingering thought, even an audible voice if He so chooses; but all these proceed to us from the Son, through the person of the Holy Ghost, into the diligently seeking and hearing ears of….well….US!
Read every examples of the “Heroes of Faith”, and see the common thread. "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." God told them what to do, and they did it. That’s Faith!
endofallfears- Posts : 4
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zone- Mod
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