Show Notes
It's actually quite simple to get God's favour on your side. Faith.
View Full Transcript
Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] You may say that you believe God, but your actions say that you're a. You think he's a liar.
[00:00:07] Let's talk about it.
[00:00:28] God doesn't design us to fit. He designs us to be impactful.
[00:00:34] Welcome to Ships and Lodgers. My name is Ryan Robinson. Glad that you are here today. We have been going through a series of talking about faith and how important it is.
[00:00:46] We have gone through gospels and gone through the hall of faith fact found in Hebrews 11, where we find what the components of faith are. And it says, now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And we've been talking about how it's been popping up and how Jesus actually thrived on the faith that individuals had that actually pulled from him the heavenly power to heal, to be able to discover, discern, and to help individuals experience a miracle in their lives at that moment in time.
[00:01:28] And we're going to continue on this.
[00:01:31] And honestly, I think we're going to probably continue on as long as we can with this. And I want to kind of continue on. I'm going to kind of skip around the. The book of. Or the book of Hebrews, specifically chapter 11.
[00:01:47] And I want to start off actually with this thought.
[00:01:55] It's hard to say that you trust God when you don't believe what he says.
[00:02:05] And I'm going to say that again. It's hard to say you believe God when you don't believe what he says.
[00:02:11] It's harder for many of us, especially when we go through the Bible. We see all the promises and the principles that he says that.
[00:02:19] And I'll just say this one tithing is a big one. He says, test me in this.
[00:02:25] Test me. I'm telling you this in Malachi. He says, test me in this that I may open up the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing that you have not room enough to receive.
[00:02:35] That is in the Bible. God is saying, test me in this. He's also saying, trust me in Proverbs 3, 5, 6. Trust in the Lord with all of thy heart and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will direct thy path. He is saying these things in the Word, but also what actually cultivates and really locks this thing in is that God himself says to the prophet Isaiah says, God is not a man that he should lie, for his thoughts are bigger than our thoughts. His ways are greater than our ways. So he's establishing the fact, like, listening, I need y' all to believe me. I need you to Trust me, in the Bible, there's over 300 references. Not necessarily the phrase of trust in the Lord, but some form of distributing and depositing some level of trust of safety into God's hands. 300. Over 300 times in the Bible, that phrase or some kind of phrase that brings it up is mentioned.
[00:03:42] So if you say something 300 times, I should probably believe you at this point. But many of us don't. We don't. Sometimes we don't because we're not in control.
[00:03:53] The hardest thing for us human beings is the fact that we cannot control outcomes however we think we can.
[00:04:00] We think that we can force hands.
[00:04:02] We think that we can have all the data, and it looks like it should be right. If A plus B equals C, then everything will work out great. But last time I checked, when God's working the math, the math doesn't actually add up. It usually multiplies.
[00:04:22] There's a quote that has said that many people can count the number of tree. Apple. Oh, sorry, excuse me.
[00:04:29] Let me say that again.
[00:04:31] Many people can count the number of fruit on a tree, but you can't count the number of trees in the fruit.
[00:04:41] So only God can. Only God can say how many trees are in that apple. You just hate, you know what I'm saying?
[00:04:51] But you can't see that you have to trust in a being or individual who has foresight of things that are to come, not just in the present, but in the future, even negating the past. Because God has thrown away our sin. He throws our past into the sea of forgetfulness and he ain't bringing it up again. That's Bible. So if you know what is being said in the word of God, you will be able to anchor yourself in. And it gives a good reason why you should have faith, because your faith isn't conditional based on what you've done beforehand.
[00:05:29] And I'm gonna get into the Book of Hebrews, but I'm gonna provide a little context here. The Book of Hebrews is actually written to individuals who are being persecuted. Clearly they're Hebrews. So it's a Jewish community of Christians who are being persecuted for their faith. And they are being encouraged or exhorted based on this letter. It's called a general epistle or general letter. It reads like a sermon.
[00:05:53] So no one really knows specifically who the author is. They have an idea.
[00:05:59] Sometimes we credit it to Paul. Some people credit it to Apollo, who is referenced in some of the other writings of Paul.
[00:06:09] But I'm gonna get right into this piece here.
[00:06:12] It is gonna be Hebrews chapter 11, which we were before. I'm gonna skip down actually to verse verse number five. Okay.
[00:06:22] And I want to really kind of anchor this. And then we'll go back, kind of skip around. But it says this. By faith, Enoch was taken to heaven so that he would not see death.
[00:06:32] He was not found because God took him away.
[00:06:37] For before he was taken, he had this commendation that he pleased God.
[00:06:44] And without faith here, it is impossible to please God. For he who comes to God must believe that he exists and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.
[00:06:59] That's verses five through six. Okay, so Enoch is found in Genesis chapter five, way in the beginning.
[00:07:14] Just a. I'm gonna read that part too, so we can find it.
[00:07:18] But It's Genesis chapter 5, verse 24.
[00:07:22] Genesis chapter 5, verse 24.
[00:07:25] And just another piece just for those who are learning the Bible.
[00:07:32] Just so you know this.
[00:07:33] The Bible interprets itself. You don't need anything external to comment the Bible.
[00:07:42] There are references. Consider it. If you ever seen the movie National Treasure 1 and 2, the Bible kind of functions like that. It almost functions like a map. That there's names that are reoccurring, that there's details, and the Holy Spirit gives you revelation of what's actually happening in here. So I'm Enoch. Where's Enoch? Well, Enoch was found in Genesis chapter five. So you gotta go to Genesis chapter five to find out what Enoch was all about. Okay, so Enoch. Here we go.
[00:08:15] Genesis chapter five.
[00:08:18] Here we go. Verse 21. Actually, we're gonna go to 21.
[00:08:23] Yeah, 21. Okay. Enoch lived 65 years and became the father of Methuselah. Now, Bible fact, Methuselah is the oldest person in the Bible.
[00:08:34] Enoch walked with God after the birth of Methuselah for 300 years and had other sons and daughters. So in the days of Enoch were 365 years, Enoch walked with God and then he was no more because God took him. Okay. Everyone else in the Bible had actually died. They said they died, but Enoch was said to have been taken.
[00:09:05] And In Hebrews chapter 11, several chapters later, gives the reason why.
[00:09:12] Because he believed and pleased God. And what pleases God? The fact that we believe that he is.
[00:09:20] That it is impossible to please God. If you don't believe that God is a God, that he said that he is.
[00:09:27] So what does. What kind of things has God said that he is. He is a provider. He is our banner. He goes before us, he fights our battles. There's so many details and things that God has communicated to his people that is hard for them and for us to believe that that is legitimately true.
[00:09:52] Now, this is the other part, too.
[00:09:55] Sometimes we may say that we believe God, but our actions actually say that we don't. Sometimes.
[00:10:04] And let me tell you why parts of this. We think that God is lying.
[00:10:12] Yeah, we think that God.
[00:10:20] We think sometimes because we don't believe God.
[00:10:25] What we're saying.
[00:10:28] Okay, this is the thing that convicted me. And I'm just going to say this, and I need to pull this up so we have it.
[00:10:36] God is not a man that he should lie. Yeah, here we go. God is not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man that he should repent. Has he spoken and will he not do it? Or has he spoken and will he not make it good?
[00:10:56] See, I received a commandment to bless, and he has blessed. And I cannot reverse it.
[00:11:05] I'm just. Leave it there.
[00:11:13] The Word is saying right there that God has evidence and has a track record that he follows through on what he says. On top of that, he's not a man.
[00:11:28] So he ain't like us, y' all that make promises and make commitments. And one day we're good for it, and the next day we're not good for it.
[00:11:40] That will make things better than what they are anyway. You know yourself. But why is this important for us to acknowledge? We have to be able to come to God and have the revelation that he is able to do what he said he'd do.
[00:11:55] Because if we don't trust him, as I said, we are actually saying that he's lying.
[00:12:00] And God says, not that he's. He's not a liar, or he does or has. He's just not capable of lying at all. Because his words from the foundations of the earth created the heavens and the earth. Go to Genesis, chapter one if you want to. He said something and it was there.
[00:12:23] He made it happen with his words. So God will not, cannot use words.
[00:12:32] He will, sorry, cannot and will not use words that do not bring about a result.
[00:12:41] So you have to be able to trust and believe that what God said is applicable.
[00:12:47] And the only way you'll know it is if you read this book called the Bible that I have right here. And if you don't know what he said, there's no way you can trust Him.
[00:12:58] There's no way you're going to have examples. Bible says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Therefore, if you do not know what he said, you cannot build faith.
[00:13:07] You will not have examples to glean from. You will not have anything to anchor your hope in because you only know what you know.
[00:13:14] And you don't have enough evidence because you haven't seen his faithfulness from the beginning, from Genesis to Revelation, you haven't seen it.
[00:13:24] So most of us have faith in a God that we only know a portion of.
[00:13:29] Most people have only read the Old Testament. They only know the Ten Commandments.
[00:13:34] Y' all. The Ten Commandments were designed specifically for young kids.
[00:13:41] Israel did not know what it was like to be ruling. Like, they just were unruly, like when you have young kids. So I got to have a lot of rules, like, don't touch this, don't go here, don't do that.
[00:13:50] Right.
[00:13:51] You have rules in place for that because you're not mature enough to handle responsibility and leniency. You just don't have it. The older you get, you're able to. Right. And that's where God's grace comes in. Yeah. You've been trying to follow the rules, having a whole bunch of rules when you're an adult or a teenager, see how much you keep them.
[00:14:16] Ask any teenager, or even ask yourself or reflect on yourself. Were you a rule follower when you were a teenager? Pause. I'll wait.
[00:14:26] Answer for yourself.
[00:14:27] But that's where God's grace comes in. The parent gives grace, they give leniency, they give range. They don't get you out too far that you're out by yourself, but they give you enough to be able to keep your identity as an individual.
[00:14:40] God's faithfulness is that good? Because it's impossible. And God says this, it's impossible.
[00:14:47] I' ma say it again.
[00:14:49] It is impossible for to please God without faith.
[00:14:59] And that God is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him.
[00:15:06] So you first got to believe that he exists, and then you got to seek Him. And when you seek him, he rewards those who seek him.
[00:15:14] Because most people ain't looking.
[00:15:16] They're just trying to get for get something from Him.
[00:15:19] They're not looking to sit with Him.
[00:15:23] Why did I go this route with this particular podcast?
[00:15:28] We have to believe and know that God is not a liar.
[00:15:35] That's why trust, or some form of trusting in the Lord, some level of phrase is in the Bible over 300 times.
[00:15:46] He wants us to believe him so bad.
[00:15:50] He's like, I need y' all to let go so that I can go.
[00:15:57] I need you to let go so I can go. I can do what I said I was going to do.
[00:16:03] God is not going to bully us into doing what he's called us to do.
[00:16:10] He's given us free will.
[00:16:12] What kind of God is that if he took away free will? We just be robots making our, you know, being told what we should do.
[00:16:22] Right?
[00:16:23] That's not love.
[00:16:25] Love has range. Love has choice. Specifically so.
[00:16:31] But God gives us the choice.
[00:16:33] He gives us examples of what this really looks like all the way from the beginning of time, Enoch, that it pleased God. That's why he didn't let him die, because that was God's army. He said, I ain't gonna let you die. I'm gonna pull you up with me. We gonna hang out here.
[00:16:53] Because he believed God, without faith, it's impossible to believe, please God, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
[00:17:08] Sorry, I said that all wrong. I'm gonna let me run this back again.
[00:17:12] Said without faith, it is impossible to please God. For he who comes to God must believe that he exists and that he is a reward of those who diligently seek Him.
[00:17:25] You may have part one, but you don't have part two.
[00:17:30] And then we'll get into the next portion of this as we're going and walking through the hall of faith.
[00:17:39] Keep it locked here.
[00:17:41] If you are needing. In needing some faith, send this to somebody, encourage them, exhort. This will help them with the faith that they need and actually give them the address in the Bible the names to pull from. This full chapter has examples that says by faith, Abel did this. By faith, Enoch did. By faith, so and so did. So we're going to walk through this thing a little bit.
[00:18:13] These podcasts are going to be a little bit shorter. I just had to get. I got really excited about this, but I want us to really take these, these nuggets of faith and build our own and glean from those who have.
[00:18:30] They weren't perfect people, but we pull from the faith that they exhibited that are written in the holy writ here. So if you don't mind, share this with somebody that needs the encouragement.
[00:18:44] You can find it. Find this on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, wherever you listen.
[00:18:52] People need their faith restored, especially in tough seasons.
[00:18:57] So share this with somebody.
[00:19:00] This, hopefully this blessed you to increase your faith in ways you have yet to experience.
[00:19:06] Until next time. We'll catch you later.
[00:19:09] Peace.
